Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballinla

Situated on gentle E-facing slope, in undulating pasture, with extensive views to N, E and SE. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as an oval-shaped earthwork. Bivallate enclosure described in 1971 as an oval-shaped area (dims. 35m NW-SE; 30m NE-SW) enclosed by an inner bank, an intervening fosse and an outer bank. The substantial inner bank is badly eroded by livestock at SE, WSW and NW. A deep U-shaped intervening fosse and an outer bank are visible from SE-S-W-N. A gap (Wth at top 6.7m; basal Wth 3.5m) in the inner bank at ENE presumably represents the entrance. The interior has a gentle ENE-facing slope. There is a large quarry hole outside the monument at NW, which is also depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map. According to a subsequent field report from 1977, the monument has recently been defaced by bulldozing and large gaps have been cut in the bank at E and W. Some sandy soil has been dumped into the fosse at N and into an old quarry hole at NW. The interior has mostly been bulldozed and only a small segment in the N and S sectors remain undisturbed. Levelled monument is barely visible today as an oval-shaped cropmark on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 06 November 2019