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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballybaun (kiltartan By.)

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy forts are not fairy forts at all. They are human ringforts, built and abandoned before the fairy name reached them. In Ballybaun the fort has been flattened to a low grassy curve, but the stone and earth still mark the shape of a lived place. The fairy label is later invention, not literal truth.
On a gentle NE-facing slope in grassland. Marked on the OS 1:2500 plan (surveyed 1912-16) as a possible pit. However, according to local information, a 'fort' was known at this location. On inspection in July 1982 a very low grass-covered semicircular bank of earth and stone (Wth 1.6m; base Wth 4.2m; int. H 0.35m; ext. H 0.15m) was visible from NE to SW (int. dim. 12m NE -SW). The outer ground level was higher than the interior and a number of grass-covered boulders were visible in the interior. The 'fort' was not known to ever have been any higher and it had not been bulldozed - stones were thrown into it. Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 8 February 2019

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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