What is recorded here

Indicated was a fairy fort, a circular ring of earth and memory on a north-facing slope in County Cork. It vanished under the plough, leaving no ridge or stone behind, yet the land still refuses to grow there. A rough patch of ground remains uncultivated where the fort stood, as if the soil remembers the shape of what was buried. The fairies did not leave; they waited for humans to stop seeing them.

In tillage, on N-facing slope. Depicted as roughly circular enclosure (diam. c. 30m) on 1842 OS 6-inch map, defined by double solid lines NNW->WSW which meet at their terminals and are joined on W side by single straight line; interior of enclosure and surounding field shown as rough grazing broken by rockout crop. Levelled; no visible surface trace. Area of rough ground (c. 25m x c. 20m) remains uncultivated to N of enclosure and to S of kink in field boundary. Locally known as site of 'Moss Maddens Fort'. This area is heavily overgrown and was used as dumping ground when remainder of field reclaimed. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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