What is recorded here

Lisin Dubh, the black fort, still holds its shape in Coolanarney pasture: two earthen banks, a narrow ditch between them, and a causewayed gap facing north. The south side has been cut back by a drain and fence, yet the circle remains large enough for a household, a herd, or a small community to move through daily life. People may have built it to keep out rain, raiders, or simply the unknown. Fairy forts belong to nobody now, but they remember every hand that shaped them.

In level pasture, to S of and above flood plain of Blackwater River. Circular area (24.5m N-S; 23.4m E-W) enclosed by two earthen banks (H 1m) with intervening fosse (D 0.5m); third bank (H 0.8m) survives W->N. Causewayed entrance (Wth 2m) to N. Large drain and field fence, running ESE-WNW, truncates site to S, levelling all three banks. According to Broker (1937, 46) fort 'called Lisin Dubh'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). 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 Coolanarney is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic site, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. It is associated with local folklore regarding fairy activity, common in such sites across Ireland.

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