What is recorded here

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballynakill is a fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Ballynakill, County Tipperary, Ireland. It occupies the north end of a ridge sloping northwest and consists of a circular bivallate enclosure measuring 46.5 metres north-south and 45.5 metres east-west. The defences combine a 3-metre-wide earthen bank, a U-shaped ditch 2.6 to 3.4 metres wide, and an outer bank 1.8 metres wide with small boulders protruding from its surface.

Situated at the N end of a natural ridge which slopes to the NW in undulating terrain. The site encompasses a natural hillock the edge of which has been dug into to provide an internal scarp and an external counterscarp bank. A circular bivallate ringfort (diam. 46.5m N-S; 45.5m E-W) enclosed by an earthen bank (Wth 3m; int. H 0.86m; ext. H 0.6-1.2m), a U-shaped fosse (Wth 2.6-3.4m; D 0.2-1.08m) and an outer bank (Wth 1.8m; ext. H 0.3-1m). There is bedrock close to the surface and a lot of stone and small boulders protrude from the outer bank. The N portion of the outer bank is very denuded, the inner edge is defined by an irregular, sheer scarp of exposed bedrock, probably the result of more recent quarrying. The interior is higher than the defences downslope to the NW and are level with the exterior upslope to SE. The interior in the SE quadrant has been quite extensively quarried. The site is bisected by a fairly substantial NW-SE earthen field bank with a ditch on the SW side. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

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