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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Burtonstown

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Burtonstown, County Meath: a circular earthen enclosure about fifty metres across, with a second inner ditch and a possible rectangular annexe at the southeast, standing on a slight east-west spur. People called it a fairy fort because such rings often seemed to belong less to living neighbours than to older, unseen company. Maybe it was a farmstead, a refuge, or a boundary marker for a forgotten field; maybe the fairies only borrowed it later.
Located at the tip of a slight E-W spur. The cropmark of a circular enclosure (int. diam. c. 50m) defined by a distinct fosse (Wth c. 2-5m) is visible only on an OSI aerial image (1995). A second fosse c. 5m inside the outer is visible N-E and what might be a rectangular annexe (dims c. 40m NW-SE; c. 27m E-W) defined by a single fosse is attached at SE. The enclosure was first reported by Colin Byrne. See the attached enhanced view from OSI images (1995) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 20 April 2023

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

What survives
Recorded monument

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