What is recorded here
Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Nicholastown (ardee By.) is an oval rath in County Louth, Ireland, with a 4.5m-wide earthen bank, a shallow external fosse, no visible ancient entrance, and two stone slabs 7m west of centre. Modern drainage has damaged the outer ditch, but the bank still marks a place where people may have lived, hidden, or performed rituals before the fort became local legend. Its name suggests that later communities believed the fairies still owned what humans had forgotten.
The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.
Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007
Oval area (int. dims. 45m E-W, 36m N-S) enclosed by earthen bank (Wth 4.5m, H 0.4m internally, 0.9m externally) with external fosse (Wth 2m, D 0.3m) now defaced by modern drainage work. No ancient entrance visible. Two stone slabs 7m W of centre (LH010-010002-).
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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