Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballyboy — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Four concentric rings of earth and stone still circle a pasture slope in Ballyboy, though modern field boundaries have flattened the outer edges. The innermost ring remains unbroken except for a narrow causeway at the southeast, marking the entrance used when the fort was new. At the centre lies the faded rectangle of a house, perhaps belonging to a family who watched weather, herds and visitors from that small command post. The fort is no longer a fairy tale but a human one, with rings of residence, defence and memory waiting beneath the grass.

On a SSW-facing slope in pasture. A raised oval area (44.8m NW-SE; 35.6m NE-SW) enclosed by four very wide low banks of earth and stone and four fosses. Only the innermost bank (Wth 6.8m; H 0.35m max.) and fosse (Wth 4.2m; D 0.45m) are identifiable all round. The other banks and fosses have been levelled to a greater or lesser extent due to the construction of modern NW-SE and NE-SW field boundaries and land reclamation. The second bank (Wth 10.3m; H 0.9m) is visible from ESE-W-NNE. The second fosse (Wth 5.9m; D 0.4m) survives from SSW-N-NNE. The third bank (Wth 8.4m; H 0.45m) is evident from WSW-W-NNW. Although levelled, its outline may also be traced from SW-WSW. The third fosse (Wth 3.9m; D 0.35m) also survives from WSW-W-NNW. The outermost bank (Wth 6.1m; H 0.3m) is visible from WNW-NW-NNW. Again although levelled, its outline may also be traced from W-WNW. The outermost fosse (Wth 2.6m; D 0.15m) has been infilled. However, its outline is still traceable from WNW-NW-NNW. A well-defined break (Wth 3.2m) in the innermost bank, with an accompanying causeway across the innermost fosse at ESE, marks the original entrance. Centrally located within the interior is a rectangular house site (LF011-041002-). Compiled by: Patrick F. O'Donovan Date of upload: 26 August 2011

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