What is recorded here

Indicated was a circular fairy fort on a Birch Hill in County Cork, wide enough to circle twice before the quarry destroyed it around 1982. The western gap may have been an entrance, a wound, or simply the shape the land remembered. People walked past that hill for generations, knowing the fort without naming it, until the stones disappeared and only the story remained.

On top of a Birch Hill. Marked as circular enclosure (diam. c. 45m) on 1842 OS 6-inch map; 1901 and 1936 OS 6-inch map show roughly circular enclosure with large gap to W. Destroyed due to quarrying c. 1982. Locally known as site of "fort". The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). 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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