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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballynakill Big

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Ballynakill Big, County Offaly, is a circular earth and stone ringfort with a 27-metre diameter, built on the west-facing slope of a north-south ridge. Its two-metre bank still stands, though modern field boundaries have worn the northern edge into a shallow scarp. The interior slopes gently westward, with no trace of an entrance or outer ditch, leaving the purpose of its shape to imagination. People may have lived there, marked territory, or simply followed the curve of the land before memory faded.
On the W facing slope of a N-S ridge in undulating countryside. Circular area (diam 27m N-S) enclosed by an earth and stone bank (Wth 2m) which has been reduced to a scarp at N where a modern field boundary exists. No evidence of an external fosse or entrance feature. The interior of the site slopes from E to W. 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

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What survives
Recorded monument

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