What is recorded here

Fairy forts are human ringforts misnamed by folklore. In Gortnaraha the earthwork still stands as a shallow oval, partly leveled but unbroken, with a faint ditch and outer bank marking where people once drew a line around their lives. Maps from 1811 and 1838 recorded it before forgetting took it in 1920. The field has changed, but the shape remains: a small circle of human time, still visible beneath the grass.

In pasture, on a low rise in an area of wettish, rolling pasture. A road lies a few meters to NE, bordering the NE side of the field. A circular enclosure is shown on an 1811 estate map (NLI Ms. 2713) and on the 1838 OS 6-inch map; it is not shown on the 1920 OS 6-inch map. This rath has been partly leveled. The remains are evident as a slightly raised oval area (40.8m E–W; 35.2m N–S) defined by a scarp (H 1m at N, 0.7m at S), outside which it is enclosed by a fosse (Wth c. 2m) with an external bank (Wth 2-2.5m at N, 2.8m at S; int. H 0.25m at N, 0.4m at S; ext. H 0.2m at N, 0.4m at S). The enclosing elements are most clearly defined at S–W where the enclosure has been built up to compensate for a natural fall of ground. Elsewhere the fosse is evident as a very shallow depression and the external bank as a slight rise. The scarp is lowest, and the fosse and external bank are not evident at E–SE, suggesting that the entrance may have been in this area. The level interior exhibits traces of cultivation ridges on a NW–SE axis. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 9 February 2022

A fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Gortnaraha is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic site, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. It appears on 19th-century maps and is associated with local folklore regarding fairies, as suggested by its common name.

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