What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Ballymooney, County Laois: a broken earthen ring, 61 metres long and 48 wide, with a 3.8-metre bank and no certain entrance. People called it a fairy fort because the shape resisted ordinary explanation, yet the measured remains point to a human rath: built, used, damaged, forgotten. The gap in the bank may have been a gateway, a collapse or a deliberate opening for water and light.

A subcircular area (dims. c. 61m N-S, 48m E-W) defined by a bank (Wth c. 3.8m, int. H c. 0.4m, ext. H c. 1.3m) from E-S. Evidence of fosse at NE. Several gaps in bank but the original entrance not identifiable. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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