What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Ballyhugh, County Cavan: a large oval ringfort, about thirty metres across, with a low earthen bank and shallow fosse, marked ‘Fort’ on the 1836 and 1876 maps. People may have lived there, excluded others at its entrance, or simply pointed at it when warning children away from the dark field. The site has been levelled, but the fort’s shape still moves through memory like a shadow under grass.

Marked 'Fort' and depicted as a large oval enclosure on OS 1836 and 1876 eds. An earlier report 1969) described a raised circular area (int. dims.30.5m NE-SW; 29m NW-SE) enclosed by a low earthen bank and a shallow fosse. Original entrance may have been at ENE. Site has been levelled. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1995). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 December 2008

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Ballyhugh, likely dating to the early medieval period, is represented by a large oval enclosure with a central raised area, surrounded by a low bank and fosse. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy activity, and they were often avoided due to beliefs in supernatural inhabitants.

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