Fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Ballyart

At the N end of a broad pasture ridge with the ground falling steeply to the Clydagh River along the E. A roughly circular bivallate rath (int. diam. 30m) is bisected by a later field boundary wall running WNW-ESE across the interior. A broad inner bank (Wth. 4.2- 8.8m; int. H 0.25-1.4m; ext. H 1m-3m) is mainly earthen but stone is evident S-W and stone facing is visible at the base of a livestock gap at NW. Other modern gaps occur in the ESE and S sectors. A flat-bottomed fosse (Wth 2-3m) running outside the inner bank is visible NW-N-NNE and SSE-S-WSW. A second, outer bank survives NW-N- NNE (Wth 2.5-3m; int. H 0.9m; ext. H 0.4m). It is overlain by a later wall N-NNE has a livestock gap at NNW. There is no clear trace of the outer bank elsewhere. Trees and bushes grow on site perimeter and briars cover parts of interior. Date of visit: 12-12-2024   Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Leo Morahan