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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Oakleypark

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

OAKLEYPARK: Four banks and four ditches enclosed more than two acres of sub-triangular ground, yet men called it a fairy fort because its size defied an ordinary farmhouse. In the 1970s a bulldoer levelled what generations had walked around, leaving only an aerial photograph to prove that the earth had once stood in rings. The anger is not to dismiss the claim or to invent a chamber; it is to remember that human hands made a boundary large enough for a neighbourhood, and forgetting requires violence.
This large multivallate earthwork was bulldozed in the 1970's. According to the ITA Survey (1943) it consisted of a sub-triangular area enclosed by four banks and fosses covering an area of over 2 acres. Aerial photograph (AVT 70) shows the shape and size of the ringfort before it was destroyed. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
No visible remains or recorded as destroyed

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