What is recorded here

Gortalassa means the place of the fairy fort, and the name still points to a vanished circle of earth on a Kerry slope. The fort was so large it stretched across the field like a shallow bowl, and people walked past its edge for generations before the land was levelled. Under the grass a stone may still mark a hidden passage, waiting for someone curious enough to listen.

In pasture, on a NW-facing slope. This rath has been levelled. The remains of an earthen bank is clearly evident, along the W, NW, N and SSE arcs, enclosing a circular area (34m N-S; c. 34m E-W). The bank (Wth 6m; int. H 0.15m; ext. H 0.4m) along the SSE arc is skirted externally by a linear field boundary. A linear NNW-SSE field boundary defines the NE sector. The interior is level. A stone located immediately inside the bank at WNW may cover a Man-made underground passage (KE048-055001-). This is the 'remarkably large' rath recorded in Gortalassa in the 1840s and 'from which the townland derives its name' (OSNB, Molahiffe, no. 1, 17). It is indicated on the 1846 OS 6-inch map as an oval area (c. 60m E-W; c. 50m N-S) with field boundaries extending from the bank at N, ESE, SSE and S. On the 1897 OS 6-inch map it is indicated as the remains of a circular enclosure (diam. c. 50m) truncated at NE and SW by linear field boundaries. (Castleisland District Archaeological Survey) Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 31 January 2011

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