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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballylanigan

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Ballylanigan: a 40m earthen ring with a wide northwest gap, half-erased but still shaping the field. That much is visible. The interesting part is the name. People stopped calling it a human fort and gave it to fairies instead. Maybe they were evading tax, boundary disputes or memory. More likely they recognised that some buildings stop being rational before they stop existing. The gap is not damage then. It is an invitation. The fort no longer serves people. It teases them. That is why it is still remembered.
In pasture, on gentle N-facing slope. Sub-circular area (c. 40m N-S; c. 35m E-W) enclosed by earthen bank (int. H 0.3m; ext. H 0.85m) with external fosse (D 0.75m; Wth 1.2m) SW->NE, and enclosed by field boundary NE->SW. Wide gap (Wth c. 10m) in bank at NW. Interior covered by densely overgrowth. Compiled by: Denis Power Date of upload: 26 August 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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