Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballard (rathconrath By.)

Situated on W facing slope of a prominent ridge, in pasture with good views to N, W & S and overlooked by slightly higher ground to E. Depicted on the 1837 OS 6-inch map and revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a roughly circular-shaped enclosure. Described in 1980 as a roughly circular-shaped area (29.5m NW-SE; 27m NE-SW) defined by a steep scarp with the remains of an inner bank, an intervening fosse and the remains of a low outer bank with causewayed entrance gap (Wth 3m) at SE. The inner bank of earth and stone is very low and faint and is almost reduced to a scarp in places. It is set back from the edge of the scarp from N-E-ESE leaving a narrow berm (Wth 3m). There are remains of an internal stone facing from SSE-S-SSW. The intervening fosse is well preserved being wide and deep. The outer bank of earth and stone retains traces of an internal and external stone facing in places and has a number of disturbance gaps. There are the remains of a stone-faced entrance gap in the inner bank, a causeway (Wth 3.5m; H 0.7m) across the fosse and a corresponding gap (Wth 5.5m) in the outer bank at SE. The interior is uneven, rising toward the centre from the SE and S. Monument visible today as a roughly circular-shaped tree-lined enclosure on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 20 December 2018