Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Crossard

At the edge of a shelf on a NNW-facing slope with extensive views to the E and NE. Hachured on the 1840 and 1916 OS 6-inch maps. Listed as ‘enclosure’ in the RMP (1996). A roughly circular cashel (dims. 35.1m NNE-SSW; 33.5m WNW-ESE crest to crest) defined from E to NW by a collapsed and grass-covered drystone wall (Wth 3.5-4.5m at base; int. H 0.3-0.45m at S; ext. H 0.45m at S). At N and NE, the wall has been reduced to a scarp (H 0.2m at E and NE; max. H 1m at N) and at N in particular the outer edge of the scarp is difficult to determine. A single stone at SW (dims. L 0.15m; Wth 0.8m; H 0.6m) has its long axis pointing towards the centre of the site. The interior slopes to the NW where the ground is lower (1.4m) than at SE. A step of rock outcrop is exposed inside the perimeter at the N (max. H c. 0.6m) and a low collapsed and grassed-over drystone wall (H 0.2m; Wth 2m) extends across the interior from E to NW. An adjoining field wall at N and NE has recently been removed and piles of field clearance rubble are visible along the extant wall to the E. A natural scarp curves parallel to the perimeter of the site along the NW giving the false impression of an internal fosse (Wth 4m). Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Lynda McCormack Date of upload: 18 July 2022

A fairy fort / stone ringfort in Crossard is a roughly circular early-medieval cashel, likely dating to between the 6th and 10th centuries, with a diameter of 35.1m NNE-SSW. It appears as an 'enclosure' in the 1996 RMP and was hachured on 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps, while local tradition associates it with fairy lore typical of such sites in Irish folklore.