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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Breany

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

De Paor dug into the Breany fort in 1967 and uncovered scattered post-holes, iron slag, knives and a broken quernstone. The facts record human smoke and tool work inside the earthworks, not fairy mischief. The fort is a trivallate ringfort with two banks and three fosses around a raised circular platform. It is a place where people lived, made things and left behind the ordinary debris of daily life.
In low-lying, level pasture. This trivallate ringfort is defined by a raised circular platform (diam. c. 36m; H 1m) that is surrounded by two banks and three fosses. The innermost fosse (Wth 5.2m) is flat bottomed, while the other two (Wth 2.5m; and Wth 2m; D 1m respectively) are U shaped. The banks (Wth 4.8m; int. H 1.2m; ext. H 1.3m and Wth 4.8m; int. H 1m; ext. H 1.5m respectively) are made up of earth and stone. The outermost fosse was probably recut as a field drain. A wide gap (Wth c. 6m) at SE may mark the original entrance. A report in 1976 (SMR file) noted a possible fourth bank but suggested it might be the remains of a later field boundary enclosing the monument. De Paor carried out an excavation here in 1967 (McDonald 1971, 131-3; Coleman 2014, 28). A considerable number of post-holes, which did not form any recognisable pattern, were noted within the interior. Finds included large quantities of iron slag, some small iron objects such as knives, a fragmented quernstone, a portion of a loy and a small quantity of animal bones. Compiled by: Patrick F. O'Donovan Updated by: Paul Walsh Revised date of upload: 21 January 2015
A trivallate earthen ringfort in Breany, featuring a central raised platform surrounded by two banks and three ditches, likely dates to the early medieval period. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy folklore, reflecting their mystical status in Irish cultural heritage.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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