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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballyroe (carbery E. (w.d.) By.)

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Ballyroe, County Cork: a true earthen ringfort, circular and home-made. It stands nineteen metres across on a north-west slope, with an eighteen-centimetre bank, stone-faced in places, a shallow ditch at the south-west, and a narrow south gap for entry. The interior rises where the hill falls, as if someone leveled a living space rather than drawing a dead circle. People may have kept animals, stored tools, or simply stood inside when rain came. The fairy name comes later, layered upon a human shape.
In pasture, on NW-facing slope. Circular area (19.2m N-S; 19.9m E-W) enclosed by earthen bank (H 1.8m), stone faced in parts; shallow fosse to SW. Low inner bank face low W->ENE, where interior raised to compensate for hillslope. Gap (Wth 1.4m) in bank to S. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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What survives
Recorded monument

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