What is recorded here

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Kilnaneave is a fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Kilnaneave, County Tipperary, Ireland. It occupies the north-facing slope of steep Ballincurra Hill, where a forest roadway removed most of the structure and left only the southwest quadrant of a three-ditch enclosure. The surviving section measures 20.8 metres from north to south and preserves three banks separated by ditches, with the inner bank reaching 1.34 metres in external height. Local information claims the bank stood much higher toward the northeast before the road cut through the site.

Situated on the N-facing slope of the steep Ballincurra Hill in forest. A forest roadway, constructed c. 12 years ago, destroyed most of the site. Only the SW quadrant of this trivallate site survives (diam. 20.8m N-S). The enclosing elements consist of an inner bank (Wth 1.9m; int. H 1.24m; ext. H 1.34m), a fosse (Wth 2m; D 1.96m), a middle bank (Wth 2m; ext. H 1.23m), a fosse (Wth 1.4m; D 1.52m), and an outer bank (Wth 1.4m; ext. H 0.76m) and external fosse (Wth 1.4m; D 1.06m). According to local information the bank was much higher downslope to the NE. There is a dramatic drop in ground level immediately N of the site. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

A trivallate earthen ringfort, likely dating to the early medieval period, partially survives on Ballincurra Hill, with only its SW quadrant remaining after recent forestry road construction. Local tradition refers to it as a fairy fort, reflecting the common Irish belief in such sites as dwellings of the faé.

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