What is recorded here

Fairy forts are not fairy forts. They are human ringforts, misnamed later. In Raheenanisky the earth still holds a shallow circular shadow, forty-seven metres across, visible only when crops grow uneven or light rakes the field at a angle. People lived there, built there, abandoned or buried it. The fairies came later, as fairies always do, to claim what people forgot.

Marked on the 1841 and 1909 editions of the OS 6-inch maps. Described as a ringfort (OPW file), the site is now levelled. It is indicated by a slight rise in the ground level (max. diam. 47m E-W) and on aerial photograph (CUCAP, AYN 35) as a subcircular cropmark. No other visible surface remains. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.