What is recorded here

Lissatouragh is a triple-banked fairy fort above the Awbeg River in County Cork, where broken earth rings still mark a royal palace according to local tradition. Cows graze the western slopes today, but the gaps in the middle bank align northwest as if inviting invisible visitors rather than blocking them. The fort has watched the river valley through centuries of rain and pasture, keeping its shape while human memory thins around it.

In pasture, on gentle NNW-facing slope above Awbeg River. Circular area (diam. c. 45m) defined by three earthen banks with intervening fosses; shallow external fosse to NE. Inner bank (int. H 0.2m; ext. H 0.9m) SE->SW; scarp to N. Middle bank (int. H 0.9m) broken to NW (Wth 3m) and NNW (Wth 3m). Outer bank (H 0.7m) low NW->NNE, with break to NW (Wth 2.5m) and NNW (Wth 6m). Banks to W and interior heavily overgrown and inaccessible. Bank depicted as forming continuous spiral from interior outwards on 1842 OS 6-inch map. According to Bowman (1934, 424), Lisatouragh 'more probably means Lios na Teamhrach - Fort of the Royal Palace'; he described triple ramparted fort with annexe to N (21yd x 19yd); foundations of hut sites, visible as grass-covered mounds, in interior. 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

Lissatouragh, Ballyrusheen is a circular earthen ringfort, likely dating to the early medieval period, characterized by three banks and intervening ditches. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy folklore, and they were often considered sacred or inhabited by supernatural beings in Irish tradition.

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