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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballaghadigue

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Moss and patience have strangled the fort, yet its forty-four metre heart still circles the wet ground beside the stream. People called it a fairy fort because the dead or forgotten often hide inside such round boundaries, waiting for human eyes to leave them alone. The squat bank and shallow ditch remain visible enough to challenge that excuse, forcing us to ask whether we are still building walls around the living or leaving trophies for the dead.
Internal diameter 44m Situated in poorly drained land about 11m SW of a small stream, this sub-circular univallate rath is extremely overgrown and is enclosed by a low, squat earthen bank and exterior fosse. The bank is c2.6m wide, .6m above the fosse and .15m-.35m high above the interior. The external fosse is 2.5m wide and c .4m below the height of the surrounding land. The above description is derived from C. Toal, ‘North Kerry Archaeological Survey’. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority (1995), no. 416. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 2 August 2013 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 2/2000).

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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