What is recorded here
Fairy fort in Cahermore, County Cork: a 28-metre earthen ring on a south-facing pasture slope, with a shallow outer ditch and a stone-faced entrance facing east. Local tradition adds an underground passage, but no tunnel is visible in the description given. The fort is small enough to walk around in a minute, yet large enough to hold a household, a herd, or a story about what people buried beneath ordinary ground.
In pasture, on S-facing slope. Circular area (28m N-S; 31.5m E-W) enclosed by earthen bank (H 1.1m); external fosse (D 0.3m) to SE. Stone-faced entrance (Wth 2.4m) to E. Trees planted in interior. Local tradition of Man-made underground passage (CO134-103---).
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
A fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Cahermore is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic site, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD, characterized by an earthen bank and fosse. Local tradition references a "Man-", possibly indicating a historical or legendary figure associated with the site, and such forts are often linked in folklore to the supernatural or fairy realms in Irish tradition.
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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