What is recorded here

Ballinglanna Fort stands as a massive earthen ring in County Kerry, its steep bank rising four metres above the surrounding land to enclose two distinct rectangular house sites. Local stories claim a hidden tunnel pierces the southwest wall and leads out into the dark, suggesting the sturdy structure may have served as more than a simple home. The quarry later cut a twenty-metre wound in the eastern fosse, yet the central chamber still holds its breath, waiting for someone brave enough to test the legend.

Internal diameter 46m N-S, 48m E-W Ballinglanna Fort. This univallate ringfort consists of a circular area enclosed by a high, steep bank of earth and stone and an exterior fosse. The enclosing bank is on average 8m wide and rises to a maximum external height of 4.2m and 2.7m above the interior. The external fosse is visible for most of the site, except to the NW through W to S. A quarry to the SE destroyed a 22m section of the fosse. Elsewhere it is deep and U shaped, measuring 1.8m-c 3m wide and 1.4m below the height of the surrounding land. A 6.6m wide entrance lies to the E and was stone lined. From the entrance E across the fosse is a causeway c 4m wide which leads to the surrounding land. The interior is at a higher level than the surrounding land and contains the remains of house-sites and possibly a Man-made underground passage. In the SW sector are the remains of a rectangular house-site (KE009-059001-), 8.2m x 4.6m internally and with walls c 1m in thickness. The opening into the house-site is in the SE corner and is 5m wide. Extending E from this house are two small ridges c 6m long and 1.6m wide. At the SE corner, extending E, is a c 6m long stone ridge. In the SW sector, there are the remains of another rectangular structure (KE009-059002-), 5m x 4m internally and with walls c 1.8m in thickness. The entrance is 2.4m wide on the N wall. Extending out of the NE corner is a narrow ridge c 2m wide, which travels N for 6.6m before coming in contact with a sub-circular mound 4.4m x 5m internally and .8m high. Immediately W of this mound is a depression, 5.6m in width and 12m long, which travels W into the enclosing bank. According to local stories this tunnel (KE009-059003-) leads out of the ringfort. The above description is derived from C. Toal, ‘North Kerry Archaeological Survey’. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority (1995), no. 340. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 2 August 2013

Ballinglanna Fort is an early-medieval univallate earthen ringfort, likely dating to between the 6th and 10th centuries AD. It is referred to locally as a fairy fort, a term reflecting the traditional belief that such sites were inhabited or protected by fairies, and often avoided for fear of supernatural consequences.

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