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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Heirhill

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Lios na Leacht, the ringfort of the mounds of stones, is a circular enclosure twenty-nine metres across in Heirhill. Its five-metre-wide bank still stands above a deep fosse, guarding two oblong stone mounds that jut into the interior like forgotten furniture. Westropp claimed hut-rings and an outer stone circle surrounded the main bank in 1909, yet those features have vanished entirely. The fort keeps its own shape while the wider neighbourhood disappears, suggesting human hands built a temporary landscape around a permanent core.
Internal diameter 29m N-S, 28m E-W Lisnaleagh/Lios na Leacht (ringfort of the mounds of stones). Contrary to KE014-006----, which lies to the NW, this map designation appears on the 1916 OS map, but not on the 1842 edition. This univallate rath is bounded on the E side by a fieldbank, which cuts the exterior slightly. This site consists of a circular area enclosed by a 5m wide bank and external fosse. The bank rises to 1.8m above the fosse and on average 1m above the interior. The well-defined and round-bottomed fosse varies from .8m-1.5m wide and is c 1m deep. The interior is at a higher level than the surrounding land and there is a 2m wide opening in the bank to the E. In the NE sector of the interior is an oblong mound, 2m x 3.5m internally, and in the SW sector is another oblong mound, 6m x 2m internally, both constructed of stone. There are also quite a few large stones in the interior. According to Westropp (1909) there was a house-ring to the N, and other hut-rings to the W, S, and E, adjoining the bank, and what we see today are the possible remains of these features. He also mentions an outer ring of stone, but no trace of this survives. The above description is derived from C. Toal, ‘North Kerry Archaeological Survey’. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority (1995), no. 487. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 2 August 2013

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What survives
Recorded monument

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