What is recorded here

Fairy forts are human places misnamed, often by people who stopped asking questions. In Cloonteens the ring still measures thirty metres across, shallow but unbroken, with a limekiln marked at its north-west edge on the oldest map. That combination matters: a fort is not a toy, and a kiln is not a decoration. People lived there, burned lime, and left a shape the land still repeats. The fairies are only the part humans refused to understand.

In pasture, on gentle W-facing slope. Depicted as hachured circular enclosure (diam. c. 40m) on 1842, 1905 and 1936 OS 6-inch maps; limekiln at NW bank on 1842 OS 6-inch map. Levelled; circular, saucer-shaped raised area (internal diam. 33m E-W; 31m N-S) survives, defined by scarp (H 0.4m) with slight internal lip. According to local information, ring clearly visible when crop growing in field. Bowman (1934, 672) recorded single-ramparted fort (diam. c. 37yd) on William Cremin's land; bank 7ft H; fosse infilled. Bowman (ibid.) also noted cavity (18ft by 3ft; D 8ft) in bank to NW. 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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