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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballygaddy (ballybrit By.)

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy forts are human ringforts misnamed, and this is one: a 32-metre circular enclosure in Ballygaddy with a low earthen bank, a narrow outer ditch, and a causewayed gap at the south-east. The name suggests exclusion, but the shape suggests entry. A person could have walked through that gap, carried something across the ditch, and lived inside the circle until the land took the name back.
Circular area (diam 32m N-S) enclosed by a slight earthen bank (ext. H 2m) which has been reduced in places to a scarp with an outer fosse (Wth 2.5m; ext. D 0.3m) best preserved from NW through N to E and causewayed entrance gap (Wth 3m) at SSE. Possible remains of an outer bank at NW only. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

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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