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Knockatoura Fort

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Knockatoura Fort is an 84-metre circular rath on a Galway slope, built with two banks and a fosse that still trace most of its edge. Field boundaries and a quarry have cut into the ring, yet the earthwork remains large enough to walk inside and imagine the lives it held. Local tradition calls it a fairy fort, which fits the way the place resists ordinary explanation and keeps its own quiet company.
On a SSW-facing slope in hilly grassland. Circular rath (D 84m), in fair condition, defined by two banks of earth and stone and an intervening fosse. The inner bank survives from SW through N to ENE, and the fosse and outer bank are present from SW to NW. A number of field boundaries cut the monument, and a quarry has encroached upon it at E. ACBG (GA017-021001-) is associated. (Neary 1914, 111) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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