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Lissaphuca

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort
Lissaphuca
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What is recorded here

Lissaphuca is a fairy fort in County Kerry, an oval earthen ring with a broken bank and a wide entrance gap facing southeast. Sheep have worn its flanks, but the ditch still cuts the slope beside Kealnanachree stream, and the interior remains a green bowl marked by two levels. Local tradition treats such places as belonging to the fairies, not people, which explains both their shape and their emptiness.
Internal diam. 22.5m N-S, 24m E-W Lissaphuca/Lios an Phúca: This oval-shaped rath is located in rough pasture just W of Kealnanachree stream, on the lower S slopes of Foilclogh. The external fosse is best preserved at N, where it is 1.5m deep below external ground level. It varies in width from 1.3m to 3.4m. The bank is fairly well-preserved, rising 2.5m on average from the base of the fosse. It falls 1.4m to the site's interior, and averages 2.3m wide. Intermittent stone facing occurs on both of its flanks, which have been damaged by livestock. A 4.3m wide gap at SE appears to represent the original entrance, though there is no corresponding causeway across the fosse at this point. The sloping interior of the site is covered in a dense growth of vegetation and features two distinct levels. The lower level slopes more strongly down to S. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 554. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 29 July 2013
Lissaphuca (Lios an Phúca) is an early-medieval oval ringfort, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD, associated with rural settlement and farming activity. The name "Lios an Phúca" reflects local folklore linking the site to the "fairy fort," suggesting a tradition of supernatural or otherworldly associations with the location.

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