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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Cloonteens

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Cloonteens holds a thirty-five metre earthen ring above a steep wooded slope, marking a place where humans shaped the land before the valley forgot their names. The bank still stands beside a fading fosse while the interior slopes downward under growth, suggesting a home or stronghold that relied on the drop to the stream for protection. It is not a fairy tale despite the local name; it is a human fort that time has half-erased.
At edge of field in pasture and above steep-sided wooded slope down to edge of stream. Circular area (diam. c. 35m) defined by earthen bank (ext. H 0.9m) W->ESE; steep-sided scarp down to stream elsewhere. External fosse (D 0.92m) survives in short sections to E and W where ground begins to level off. Interior overgrown and slopes down to S. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). 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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