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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballinreeshig

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Ballinreeshig is a 48.5m earthen ring on an east-facing slope above a stream valley, with a 2.3m bank, western entrance and an underground passage inside. O'Leary called it double-fenced, suggesting layered defence or exclusion. People may have lived, hid or ritually marked the place before fairy names took it over. The fort still works as a boundary between the ordinary field and whatever refuses to be measured.
In pasture, on E-facing slope overlooking stream valley. Circular area (48.5m N-S) enclosed by earthen bank (H 2.3m) SE->NE; external fosse survives as narrow drain SW->WSW. Entrance to WNW (Wth 4m). According to O'Leary (1918-19, 119) it had 'double fences'. Man-made underground passage (CO086-085---) in interior. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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What survives
Recorded monument

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