What is recorded here

Knocknakilla holds a twenty-six metre earthen ring on a west-facing slope, its interior cut into the hillside and raised on the opposite edge to force a level floor against gravity. Dan Harrington still fenced the quarter-acre in 1937, proving the earthwork remained a lived boundary rather than a forgotten ghost. The southern gap admits a person but excludes a charging horse, suggesting the fort excluded more than it admitted.

In pasture, on W-facing slope, overlooking stream valley to W. Circulararea (26m N-S; 26m E-W) defined by earthen bank (int. H 1.2m; ext. H 1m)N->SSE, topped by ruinous stone wall; scarp (H 2.5m) elsewhere, stone-facedin parts. Interior cut into hillside to E and raised on W side tocompensate for hillslope. Gap (Wth 2.5m) in bank to S. Surrounding fieldfences removed. Broker (1937, 46) records fort on Dan Harrington's land,'1/4 acre, fence finished with stone'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Knocknakilla 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 folklore, and they were often considered places of supernatural significance in Irish tradition.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.