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Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Ballycahan,killilagh

Fairy fort / stone ringfort

What is recorded here

Nobody knows when the stones first rose from the limestone, but the fort has watched the Clare sky for centuries. Its double-faced wall still holds a narrow rubble core, while a smaller cashel bites into the eastern edge as if two households argued about ownership. The sunken centre hides a man-made passage and a tiny inner enclosure, suggesting people once lived inside the ring rather than merely passing it. Local tradition calls it a fairy fort, a reminder that the dead and the departed keep their own doors closed.
On a gentle SE-facing slope in rough pasture and limestone pavement, with land rising slightly to the E but otherwise offering wide views within an extensive multiperiod field system (CL008-109001-). This subcircular cashel (52m NE-SW; 45m NW-SE) is defined from W to NW by an outer wall-face (H 1m) (the wall core and inner face are not clear) and from NW to NNW by a scarp (H 0.2m). From NNW to E it is defined by a double-faced wall with a rubble core (Wth 1.95m; H 0.5m), with at most one course of the wall-face surviving. At the E the cashel wall appears to be cut by a smaller enclosure or cashel (CL008-147----). From E to W the perimeter is truncated by later straight field-walls, possibly built over an earlier wall of which the footing (Wth 3.5m; H 0.25m) is visible. A small hollow is dug into the cashel wall at the N. In the centre of the sunken interior (av. D 0.3m) there is a small enclosure (CL008-130003-), and at NE there is a Man-made underground passage (CL008-130002-). Another cashel (CL008-003----) lies c. 55m to the W. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 25 April 2023

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

What survives
Recorded monument

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