What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Shanco, County Meath: an oval grass ring, 49m by 40m, held by an earthen bank and outer fosse on a south-facing ridge. Inside, just north-east of centre, a smaller rectangular house site survives with its own bank, scarp and western entrance. The main gateway faces west-southwest, letting a person walk from the open ridge into a place where the ground still draws its own shape.

Located towards the top of the S-facing slope of an E-W ridge. This is an oval grass-covered area (dims 49m ENE-WSW; 40m NNW-SSE) that slopes down (H c. 2m) to the SW. It is defined by an earthen bank (at E: Wth 6.3m; int. H 0.8m; ext. H 1m) that is reduced to a scarp (ext. H 1-2m) WNW-N and an outer fosse (at E: Wth of top 6.5m; Wth of base 1.7m; ext. D 1m) often reduced to a berm (at S: Wth 3.5m). There are traces of an outer bank E-SW that might be incorporated in a NW-SE field bank N-E. The original entrance through both banks is at WSW. Just NE of the centre is a rectangular house site (dims 12m N-S; 5m E-W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 2.4m; H 0.3m) at W and S and a scarp down to the interior at N and E with an entrance at W. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 10 January 2019 Amended: 23 March 2023

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