What is recorded here

Yes. An earthen ringfort in Newtownbalregan faced east toward Dundalk Harbour, its broad ditch and causeway marking a place where people lived, buried tools, and changed the land before the road took it. The discovery of a penannular brooch, glass beads and flint suggests more than passing use: a household, a ceremony, a memory kept in small bright things.

Excavated in advance of the construction of the M1 Dundalk Western Bypass (Excavation Licence No. 03E0115). A circular enclosure (int. diam. c. 46m; ext. diam. 50-52m) defined by U-shaped ditch (Wth 2-4m wide, max D 1.5m) and a causewayed entrance (Wth 5m) facing east towards Dundalk Harbour. No trace of a bank. A number of pits and post-holes were uncovered in the interior. Finds included a copper alloy penannular brooch, two stick pins, three decorated glass beads, a possible knife, 32 pieces of Man-made underground passage ware and 226 pieces of struck flint. A Man-made underground passage (LH007-174002-) was uncovered 5m to the SW of the ditch. (Bayley 2006, 343) Reference: Bayley, D. 2006 Newtownbalregan Ringfort with Man-made underground passage. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2003: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 343 (No. 1286). Bray. Wordwell Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 8 December 2011

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Newtownbalregan is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic site, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. The site, excavated ahead of the M1 Dundalk Western Bypass, shows typical features of a ringfort with a U-shaped ditch, and local tradition may associate it with fairy lore or ancient Irish settlers.

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