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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Gorteennamuck

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

That is the Irish word for a ringfort, a circular home or refuge marked by a bank and ditch rather than a tall stone wall. Rath appears across Ireland in field names and local memory, recording ordinary human occupation long before museums or borders.
On a slight terrace on the N slope of a river valley, in rolling pasture. There are good views to E, S and W but monument is overlooked by higher land to the N. The monument is indicated as an oval enclosure (overall dims. c. 40m N-S; c. 48m E-W) on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map with a NW-SE field boundary running into the N quadrant and a N-S field boundary running into the S quadrant. On the 1900 ed. of the OS 6-inch map the W side appears to be truncated by a field boundary and the E half has been incorporated into a field boundary, resulting in a roughly rectangular area being defined (dims. c. 45m N-S and NE-SW), enclosed by a slight earth and stone bank, which is partially incorporated into the later field walls. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 October 2017

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

What survives
Recorded monument

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