What is recorded here

Fairy forts are not fantasy but abandoned human settlements, often misnamed because people stopped living there and the land took them back. This is a real ringfort in Cloghan, County Offaly: a broad circular boundary on a rising field, partly buried or worn away, with another fort nearby to the east. It may have held a family, a herdsman, a seasonal camp or a small community before it became a field edge. The fairies enter only after the humans leave, filling the empty house with story.

Situated on a natural rise in undulating countryside with nearby ringfort (OF038-023----) to the E. Large circular area (diam 53m E-W) defined by a poorly preserved inner fosse (Wth 1m) visible only from E to S with outer bank (Wth 2m; ext. H 1.5m; int. H 0.3m) of stone construction surviving as a field boundary from E through S to SW elsewhere it is degraded to a scarp. No evidence of an outer fosse or entrance feature. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

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