What is recorded here

Elfordstown is an earthen ringfort now hidden under barley and forgotten tools. It stood forty metres across on a south-west slope, large enough for a family, a herd, and a hundred winters. Men may have lived there before ploughs erased the wall, but the field keeps no bones or doors to prove it. What remains is a smooth curve in the soil, waiting for rain to draw its shape again.

In tillage, on SW-facing slope. Shown on 1842 OS 6-inch map as dotted circular area; on later eds of OS 6-inch map as hachured enclosure (diam. c. 40m). Levelled; spread of stones and low undulations in field. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). 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 Elfordstown is a likely early-medieval circular earthwork, originally a defensive or domestic settlement, now largely levelled with only stones and low mounds remaining. It is associated with local folklore surrounding fairy dwellings, common in Irish and Celtic tradition.

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