Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Ballynahown

On a low and prominent rounded knoll with commanding views from SE to NW and within a large field system (CL004-027001-). Hachured on the 1915 OS 6-inch map. Listed as ‘enclosure’ in the RMP (1996). Referred to by Westropp (1905, 348) as ‘Cahernagrian’ an oval fort (19.2m NW-SE; 17.37m NE-SW) with well-built walls with ‘two faces of large, well-set blocks, each over a foot thick, but with small, rounded filling’. Westropp (ibid.) also refers to five ‘well-marked but very irregular hut-enclosures’ in the centre. A roughly circular, well-preserved but overgrown cashel (est. dims. c. 29m E-W; c. 25m N-S) defined by a stone wall (Wth 1.8-2m; int. H 0.8-1.1m; ext. H 2-2.6m) which on inspection in 1998 was only accessible from NNW to ENE where stone had fallen outwards and down a steep slope (D 1-2m). The collapsed cashel wall was intermittently visible at SE and a broad bank of stone (int. H 1m; ext. H 1.6m) was visible at S. The five irregular hut sites noted by Westropp could not be seen due to the overgrowth. A cashel which is incorrectly named ‘Cahernagrian’ on the 1915 OS 6-inch map (CL004-058----) is located c. 135m to the WSW and another cashel and Man-made underground passage (CL004-062---- and CL004-062002-) are located c. 52m to the SSE. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Lynda McCormack Date of upload: 10 October 2022

A fairy fort or stone ringfort in Ballynahown, likely an early-medieval defensive or domestic site, situated on a prominent knoll with extensive views. It is associated with local folklore surrounding fairy activity, as suggested by its common name.