Discover Alone, back to main map

Indicated

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Indicated is a fairy fort in County Mayo, Ireland, an oval earthen platform ringed by a ditch and outer bank that still stands two metres high on a rise above wet ground. Blackthorn bushes creep into the grassy interior, marking the boundary between the human pasture and the older, hidden life of the place. The fort overlookes lowlying marsh where sight fails and intuition takes over, reminding everyone that indication does not require proof.
In rough to average pasture, located on top of a rise, with a fall of ground to NW, overlooking an expanse of lowlying wet ground. There is undulating/rising ground to E and SE. Oval platform (34m NE−SW; 24. 3m NW−SE) defined by a scarp (H 2m), outside which it is encircled by a fosse (Wth 5m) and external bank (Wth 5.5m; int. H 0.6m; ext. H 1.2m, at SW). The fosse and external bank are well preserved at S−NW, with a number of large stones the external bank incorporates at W. At NW−NE the fosse and external bank are reduced to a terrace (Wth 6.8m) defined on its outer edge by a scarp (H 1.2m). A field fence on a NW−SE axis overlies the fosse and truncates the external bank at NE−E. At E−SE the platform scarp has been adapted to serve as a field fence and the fosse and external bank are not evident. The scarp is lowest (H 0.6m) at NE where it faces the spine of the ridge; this is a likely location for the original entrance. The interior is level. There is a low stony heap (max. dim. 2m; H 0.3m) in the N half. A shallow roughly square depression (2m by 2m) abuts the scarp at W. The perimeter is thickly ringed with blackthorn bushes, which are encroaching on the grassy interior at S and W. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 13 August 2021

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

Add to this placeAdd a picture Comment or add a tip

Explore 1,118,481 places