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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Rinneen (inchiquin By.)

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

No visible entrance marks the whitethorn-covered bank of this preserved Rinneen rath, though later gaps and a truncated edge suggest repeated human entry and exit. The flat-topped earthwork stands thirty metres across at the top of a broad ridge, large enough for a household, a small herd or a crowded ritual, yet its true purpose has not survived. It is the kind of place where ordinary life and invented mystery both have room to exist.
At the top of a broad ENE-WSW running ridge in pasture, with wide views except to the E where the ground is slightly higher. Hachured on both the first (1842) and Cassini (1920) editions of the OS 6-inch map. Listed as ‘Enclosure’ in the RMP (1996). This well-preserved subcircular rath (int. diams. 30m ENE-WSW; 25.6m NNW-SSE; ext. dims. 37.6m ENE-WSW; 33m NNW-SSE) is defined by a whitethorn-covered, flat-topped earthen bank (3-4.5m; int. H 0.4-0.5m; ext. H 0.3-0.6m). The bank has grass-covered facing-stones (L c. 0.5m; H 0.3m) on its inner face from NE-E-SSE, which are also visible intermittently elsewhere. The bank’s outer edge has been pushed inwards from SE-S, and has been added to all around by spoil and cleared field stones. A later gap (Wth 6m) at NW has been infilled with field stones. There is a second later gap (Wth 3m) at NE, in which facing-stones can be seen and a third later gap (int. Wth 0.5m; ext. Wth 2m) at SE is lined by a large field stone on either side. An ENE-WSW running field wall has truncated the N edge of the rath. There is another rath (CL017-213----) c. 150m to the WNW, and a children’s burial ground (CL017-126----) c. 160m to the WSW.   Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott    Date of upload: 29-10-2025

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What survives
Recorded monument

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