Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Cartronhugh

At the W end of a spine of elevated ground broken by rock outcrops and engulfed in a dense thicket of hazel and blackthorn, rising from an expanse of flat poorly drained pasture. A roughly circular area (c. 23m NE-SW; c. 20m NW-SE) defined by a scarp (H 2m) topped by a low moss-covered rubble bank (Wth c. 1m; int. H 0.3m) with rough external facing (H 0.6m) of large upright slabs and boulders. Skirting the base of slope N-SE is a scarp cut into the natural slope with an intervening gap or terrace (Wth c. 2m). It is truncated at SE by a later field fence on a NE-SW axis. The scarp is faced with large roughly coursed blocks of stone and is topped by a low bank of rubble (Wth 1.5m). At SE it incorporates massive boulders. Extending from it to E is a S-facing scarp (H 1m) of similar construction which follows the natural contour of the elevated ground. A possible Man-made underground passage (SL021-022002-) and hut site (SL021-022003-) lie at the centre of the overgrown interior. A possible cashel (SL021-023----) is located on elevated ground c. 80m to SSE and there is a burnt spread (SL021-116----) immediately to SE. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008