What is recorded here

Indicated is a fairy fort hidden in the woodland grounds of Tavraun House, County Mayo, where a circular earthen platform still rises beside ordinary farm buildings. Its scarp, fosse and external bank form an unbroken ring, while a slumped seam at the southeast may have once served as an entrance. Sycamore, hazel and rhododendron now grow across the interior, softening the work of human hands into something the fairies could have finished.

Located on a slight rise, in a stand of deciduous woodland in the grounds of Tavraun House, with a cluster of farm buildings 10-15m to SW. Roughly circular raised area or platform (34m N–S; 31.4m E–W) defined by a scarp and enclosed at S–ENE by a fosse (Wth 3.5m) and external bank (at N: Wth 3.7m; int. H 0.7m; ext. H 0.6m). A field wall, on a NNW–SSE axis, has truncated the external bank at E. Another field wall, oriented roughly N−S, lies immediately to W of the external bank on the W arc. A slumped area in the enclosing scarp at SE may mark an original entrance. The interior slopes down slightly from NW to SE. In the W half of the interior, there is a trench-like depression (L 19m; Wth 3.6-4m; D 0.7m) close to the inner edge of the scarp, which arcs gently, respecting the curve of the enclosure -this appears to be the result of relatively recent disturbance. Immediately to E of this is a low stony rise (c. 3m E–W; c. 4m N–S). The interior and perimeter are planted with sycamore, hazel, hawthorn and rhododendron. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 4 June 2021

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