What is recorded here

Knocklong West holds a circular earthen ringfort spanning twenty-six metres, complete with a deep fosse and outer bank. It stands in reclaimed pasture, marked clearly on old maps and aerial photographs as a raised platform shaped for human use. The earth remains firm enough to show its edges, inviting imagination about the people who built and defended the ring.

In reclaimed pasture 30m SW of earthwork (LI040-082001-). Depicted on the OSi 25-inch map as a raised circular-shaped platform (diam. c. 26m) defined by a scarp with fosse. Westropp (1917-19, 174) described this ringfort as, ‘a marsh fort, a ring, 66 feet (20m) inside; the rampart is 6 feet (1.8m) thick and high, the fosse 12 feet (3.6m) wide and only 2 feet to 3 feet (0.6-0.9m) deep, with an outer ring 3 feet (0.9m) high and 6 feet (1.8m) thick. Windele describes it as,"a motte 13 feet (3.9m) high with a cave in which a dog was lost" ’. Visible as a raised circular-shaped area defined by a scarp with fosse and outer bank on aerial photograph (ASIAP (344) 0, 3) taken 05/01/2003 and on oblique aerial photograph taken 20/07/1968 (CUCAP AVT028). Monument is clearly visible on Google Earth orthoimage dated 19/09/2019 where it is intersected at NW by a field drain running NE-SW. See attached CUCAP aerial image, (ASIAP (344) 0) and Google Earth orthoimages. Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick Date of upload: 10 June 2021

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Knocklong West, likely dating to the early medieval period, is characterized by a circular raised platform with a surrounding scarp and fosse. It is associated with local folklore surrounding fairies and other supernatural beings, common to many such sites in Ireland.

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