Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Rochfort Demesne

Situated on a small yet prominent rise, in gently undulating pasture, overlooked by adjacent hill to NW and with partial view of Lough Ennell to W. On former demesne lands of Tudenham Park (Rochfort House). Monument described as an oval-shaped area (dims. 51m E-W; 44m N-S) enclosed by a bank and external fosse. The bank is high and steep on the exterior although it is reduced to a scarp in places where it is quite fragmentary. A wide V-shaped fosse is best preserved from W-NW and is almost completely infilled from NW-N-E-S-W. The original entrance is not recognisable. A large portion of the interior is occupied by an egg-shaped quarry hole which is defined by a bank of upcast material. The unquarried portion has traces of cultivation ridges running NW-SE and many small stones have been scattered across the surface. Monument is no longer visible on Digital Globe aerial photography, where it is replaced by a large embankment of the realigned N52 National Road. See attached profile of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 02 October 2019

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Rochfort Demesne is a circular earthen enclosure, likely dating to the early medieval period, associated with both ancient settlement and later folklore surrounding faeries and hidden folk. The site is traditionally linked to the Rochfort family and local legends of enchanted beings, with its location on former demesne lands adding to its historical and cultural significance.