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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Athcarne

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy forts are human ringforts misnamed, often by people who would rather not admit the dead are still thinking. In Athcarne the earth remembers a small rectangular home, perhaps forty metres across, set on a rise where people could see far and be seen returning. The fairies inherit what humans abandon, which is why the boundary still shows through grass and crop. To call it fairy is not to dismiss the people, but to admit the place never stopped holding them.
Situated on a rise in an undulating landscape. The cropmark of a subrectangular enclosure (diam. c. 40m) defined by a single fosse feature SW-N-E is visible on aerial image (OSAP: 1995). Ring-ditch (ME032-041----) is c. 60m to the W. It was first identified by Colin Byrne. See the attached image which is an extract from (OSAP: 1995) with the rath at right. Date of upload: 15 September, 2017

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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