What is recorded here
Half the fort is a cliff and half the fort is a wall, which means the builders took the edge of the world and added just enough stone to make a room. Fifteen metres across, set atop a drop in County Donegal, it is less a house than a claim: this far, no further. The fairy name may be mockery, wonder or warning, but the shape is plain. A person stood at that gap, looked down the rock and decided the view was worth keeping.
Internal Dimensions 15m E-W, 15m N-S. A D-shaped area defined on the W by a straight cliff edge and elsewhere by a ruined semicircular drystone wall c. 2.5m wide. A gap 2.25m to the E is the likely entrance. A modern field boundary adjoins the site on the E side. The site is located in a commanding position atop a sheer cliff edge in rough ground.
The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.
Date of upload: 22 September 2008
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
Places near here
Carrownaganonagh National Schoolschool · 1157 yd
Saint Brigid's Catholic Churchchurch/chapel · 1.0 mi
Cratlagh Earthen RingfortFairy fort / earthen ringfort · 1.6 mi
Castle (Site of)Castle, unclassified · 3.4 mi
WoodquarterForest recreation place · 3.5 mi
Rough IslandIslet · 4.0 mi
BallykeeranForest recreation place · 4.1 mi
Cranberry IslandIslet · 4.4 mi
Bawn in RathmeltonBawn · 5.5 mi