What is recorded here

Half hidden under grass and ridge, the fort still keeps its shape: a broad oval banked and ditched on one side, scarped and steep on the other, with two gaps where people may have entered. It is the kind of place where the land was made to be lived in, not merely looked at. The fairy name is a story, but the earthworks are fact, and they point to human hands shaping a small defensible world on the crest of Clare.

At the narrow crest of a N-S ridge with the ground sloping away to W and E. Listed as 'Enclosure' in the SMR (1992) and the RMP (1996). A raised oval grass-covered area (dims. 27m N-S; 23.4m E-W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 3.6m; int. H 0.2m; ext. H 0.8m) SSE-S and a slight fosse (Wth of base 2.5m; D 0.1m) SSE-SW, which is continued by a berm (Wth 2.2m) and outer field bank SW-NW. Elsewhere the perimeter is defined by a scarp (H 1.2-1.4m generally to 1.8m at E), which merges into the steep slope at E. There are ramp entrances at S (Wth 2m) and NNW (Wth 5m), both of which probably receive modern usage. The W part of the interior is level, but the E part slopes down severely to the E (H 1.5m). Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 27 April 2016

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Ballynabinnia is a likely early-medieval defensive or habitation site, characterized by a raised oval enclosure with earthworks. Local folklore may associate it with fairy legend, as suggested by its name, though specific traditions are not recorded.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.