What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Killowen, County Kerry: a 22 m earthen ring with a 2.5 m scarp, SSE entrance, level interior, and a possible underground passage just east of the centre. It sits on the north side of a rise above Kenmare Bay, overgrown with trees, bushes and ferns, near a standing stone about 20 m to the west. The 1846 map marked it as the Site of Fort at a junction of three fields, suggesting people still recognised the shape long before it became a fairy name.

In pasture, on the N side of a rise to the N of Kenmare Bay. A raised circular area (diam. 22m) defined by a scarp (H 2.5m). The entrance is at SSE. The interior is level. A possible Man-made underground passage (KE093-017002-) lies just E of the centre. The rath is overgrown with trees and bushes around the perimeter and bushes and ferns in the interior. It is indicated on the 1846 OS 6-inch map as a circular area (diam. c. 30m) defined by a broken line, at the junction of three fields, and named 'Site of Fort'. A standing stone (KE093-017001-) is c. 20m to the W. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

A fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Killowen is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic site, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy folk, and the presence of a possible underground passage may contribute to legends of hidden otherworldly realms.

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