Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Ballyshanny

At the base of a S-facing slope, on slightly undulating ground in pasture within a large multiperiod field system (CL009-059001-). Partly hachured on the OS 25-inch plan (1897) and 1920 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. Listed as ‘Enclosure’ in the RMP (1996). On inspection in July 1998, this roughly circular cashel (int. dims. 39m N-S; 38m E-W) consisted of a raised platform (H above external ground level 1.3-1.5m) with the remains of a double-faced stone wall around its perimeter. The platform was stone faced and this facing was best preserved from N to SE; the stones used towards its base were very large (L 1.5m; H 0.5m; D 0.8m). The double-faced wall on the perimeter was also best preserved from N to SE (Wth 1m; int. H 1.5m) but at SSE, where only inner and outer wall-facing survived, the wall appeared to have been much wider (Wth 2.55m). From SSE to N this wall had been almost entirely removed and only intermittent inner wall-facing was visible. However, recent aerial imagery (Google Earth April 2021) suggests that this section of the wall has been rebuilt. It is possible that the cashel was subsequently reused as a bawn for the tower house (CL009-093002-) that occupies the SW quadrant of its interior (FitzPatrick 2009, 302). Some modern farm buildings infringe on the platform at N. Compiled by: Olive Alcock and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 8 June 2022

A stone ringfort in Ballyshanny, likely dating to the early medieval period, is situated on a south-facing slope within a multiperiod field system. It is associated with local folklore referring to it as a "fairy fort," reflecting traditional beliefs in supernatural or otherworldly inhabitants of such sites.