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Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Leana

Fairy fort / stone ringfort

What is recorded here

Leana Fairy Fort is a massive stone ringfort built on a western slope above exposed limestone, where a natural bedrock step raises half the interior like a hidden stage. Its thick wall still stands in places, marking a boundary between human ambition and the raw capacity of the landscape. People may have lived there, bred animals in the southwest pen, or simply watched the slope change light before leaving the fort to legend.
On a W-facing slope in mixed rough pasture and exposed limestone pavement and within a field system (CL017-180----). Hachured on both the first (1842) and Cassini (1920) editions of the OS 6-inch map. This subcircular cashel (46.4m N-S; 42m E-W) is defined by a stone wall (Wth 1.4-1.6m; H 0.4-1m) and associated collapse (combined Wth c. 4-5m). Westropp (1905, 216) found the wall of this ‘massive caher’ standing up to eight feet (c. 2.4m) high in places. The outer wall-face is traceable almost all around. There is an entrance (Wth 0.8m) at SSE, on the upslope side of the cashel, with a large stone (L 1.4m; H 0.9m) in the wall on the entrance’s W side. A 4m-long stretch of the wall at E has been rebuilt (Wth 1-1.2m; H 2m). A natural bedrock step (H 1.6m) runs N-S through the cashel, raising the W edge of the interior over the rest. Overlying the wall at NE is a later house (CL017-014002-). Against the inner face of the cashel wall at SW is an animal pen (8m NW-SE; 7m NE-SW) defined by a collapsed drystone wall. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 17 July 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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