Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Derrygorman

Internal diam. 19.5m N-S, 21m E-W A roughly circular univallate rath situated at the SE edge of a tract of level land which lies between the Owenascaul river and one of its tributaries. The land to S and E falls away towards the floor of the valley and there are good open views in all directions. The centre of the enclosure is occupied by a possible hut-site, and a Man-made underground passage has also been recorded at the site. The level interior is raised slightly above the external ground level and is enclosed by a single earthen bank. The latter varies in internal height from .4 to .9m and externally it averages 1.4m in height. The outer face is revetted with very roughly-built drystone masonry. It is possible that the inner face was also revetted with stone walling but only a few stones now protrude through the grass cover. There is a 1.1m wide gap in the bank at NW. A single course of the outer stone-facing continues half-way across this gap, indicating that either the gap or the facing is a secondary feature. A ring of parched grass encloses a circular area in the centre of the enclosure. This ring is also marked in places by scatters of loose stone, now grass-grown, and it may mark the location of a circular hut; the feature is c. 10.5m in overall diameter. The Man-made underground passage was also located in the centre of the enclosure (Ashe 1954, 10) but is no longer visible. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 383. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 6 August 2013