What is recorded here

Twenty-six metres across on the west slopes of Ballysitteragh mountain, the ruined ringfort still holds a collapsed circular hut and fragments of drystone underground passage. Whether its boundary began as stone wall or earthen bank has blurred under centuries of pasture, field walls and forgetting. The name Caher appears on the Fair Plan, yet nearby raths share that same label, leaving the true structure half-hidden beneath grass and stone.

Internal diam. 26m This univallate ringfort KE043-059---- encloses the remains of a circular hut (KE043-059001-) and a drystone-built Man-made underground passage (KE043-059002-) of uncertain extent. It is situated in rough, fairly level pastureland on the W slopes of Ballysitteragh mountain. The site is very ruined and has also been considerably modified, and it is not clear whether it was originally enclosed by a stone wall or by a stone-revetted earthen bank. The name 'Caher' on the Fair Plan suggests the former but this term is not always diagnostic; a nearby rath is also named 'Caher' on the Fair Plan. At present the enclosing element consists for the most part of a stony bank, up to 1.5m high, which preserves some fragments of an inner stone face and also some possible fragments of an outer face. The remains are particularly disturbed along the W sector where a field wall bounds the site and along the N sector where a laneway and field wall skirt the enclosure. The field walls do not continue the curving outline of the remainder of the enclosure but do appear to overlie the earlier bank or wall in places. The circular hut in the E sector of the interior is c. 4m in diameter, and its wall, now largely defaced and collapsed, survives to a maximum height of c. 1m. Only 2 short sections of the Man-made underground passage are now visible. The 1st consists of a 2m long section of passage, located directly E of the hut-site. The opening is too small to allow access but the passage is no more than .35m high at present, is of drystone construction and is aligned NW-SE. To N of the hut, a stony ridge runs E-W for 10m; this may indicate the location of part of a passage linking this 1st section of the Man-made underground passage to a 2nd section in the N sector. The latter consists of a section of passage which is 4m long, .55m wide and c. 0.5m high; it is aligned NE-SW. The drystone-built side-walls and flagged roof are preserved only in the SW half; the remainder now consisting only of an open, unfaced hollow; both ends are blocked by collapse. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 444. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013

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