What is recorded here

Knockshanawee holds a circular earthen ring forty feet across, rising a metre and a half above marshy ground to command a southern view. A well sits ten metres north, feeding a stream that flows southeast past the bank, while a cooking site lies further up the same field. The shape suggests people lived there, cooked there, and watched the land from the ridge before the myths moved in to claim the emptiness.

In marshy ground, commanding a good view to S. Circular area (diam. 24.7m) defined by earthen bank (H 1.5m). Well lies c. 10m to N of site with stream flowing SE from it; fulacht fiadh (CO084-007----) in same field c. 40m further N. 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 / earthen ringfort in Knockshanawee is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic site, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. It is associated with local folklore surrounding fairy activity and may have been linked to the nearby fulacht fiadh, a type of ancient cooking or ritual site.

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