What is recorded here

Fairy forts are human places misnamed, and Gilcagh is no different: a round earth rampart about thirty metres across, with large stones reinforcing its inner face and an entrance at the southwest. It was a working enclosure, the kind where a neighbour’s sheep or a restive horse might be held until claimed. In 1963 field-fence clearance levelled most of it, leaving only a short bank trapped inside the eastern fence. The fairy story is easier to believe than the ordinary one, but the ordinary one is what the ground recorded.

In pasture. Depicted as hachured circular enclosure (diam. c. 30m) on 1842, 1904 and 1937 OS 6-inch maps. According to Hartnett (1939, 283), inner face of rampart strengthened by large stones and used as pound or enclosure for stray animals; entrance to SW. Levelled during field fence clearance in 1963 (OPW). Short section of bank survives in field fence to E. 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

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