Discover Alone, back to main map

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Glanlough West

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Twenty-three and a half metres across, the earthen bank still circles a pair of conjoined huts on the eastern flank of the ridge dividing Glanlough from Glanteenassig. The western half has collapsed into a shallow lip, but the eastern wall rises two metres above the ground, four metres wide at its base, holding the shape of a home that outlived its builders. The interior slopes downhill toward the southeast, terraced and marked by a low scarp stretching nearly ten metres from the southern bank, perhaps natural, perhaps made by hands that learned the mountain before writing existed. Four breaks puncture the wall, and none admits itself as the door.
Internal diam. 23.5m This univallate rath, enclosing a pair of conjoined huts, is situated on an ESE facing slope on the E flank of the mountain ridge separating Glanlough from Glanteenassig. It has suffered considerable damage, and the W half of the bank has been reduced to a height of .7m internally and .15m externally; the original width is not evident. To E, however, the bank survives to a height of .7m internally and 2.1m externally; it is c. 4m wide at base. The circular interior slopes downhill to ESE and appears to be terraced. A low, irregular scarp, up to .9m high, extends 9.6m across the interior from the bank at SSW, so that the NW sector is at a higher level than the S sector. This may be natural as a similar feature occurs outside the enclosure to N. It is not clear which of the 4 breaks in the bank marks the original entrance. There are slight traces of a pair of conjoined hut-sites abutting the inner edge of the bank at WNW. The best preserved survives as a slight depression, 2m x 3m, enclosed by a low, earthen bank averaging .15m in height; the 2nd possible hut, to ESE, is too indistinct for measurement. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 434. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

Places near here

Add to this placeAdd a picture Comment or add a tip

Explore 1,118,481 places