What is recorded here

Half a kilometre of wet bog and open sky, the fairy fort in Ballymahony stands at the plateau’s edge like a threshold rather than a house. Its earthen bank is broad enough to walk beside, high enough to mark ownership, and broken in places as if people still use it for entry, exit or memory. The name suggests exclusion, but the shape suggests invitation: a small circle drawn in heavy ground where vision, weather and lived experience meet.

At the SE edge of a plateau in wet, boggy land, with wide views from NE to SW. Hachured on the 1842 and 1920 eds. of the OS 6-inch map. Listed as ‘Enclosure’ in the RMP (1996). A subcircular rath (29.4m N–S; 25.8m E–W; max. ext. dims. 49m E–W; 44.2m N–S) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 5–7m; int. H 0.2–0.5m; ext. H 1–1.2m), a slight berm (Wth 1.5–4m) and a probable fosse, as indicated by a boggy, rush-filled band (Wth 2.5–4m). The interior is considerably higher (c. 0.5m) than the exterior. The bank at the W (Wth 7m; int. H 0.5m; ext. H 1m) has been pushed in and is more massive than elsewhere and at the S it is almost an external scarp (H. 0.8m). A later L-shaped, grass-covered depression (Wth at top 4m; Wth at base 2.2m; D 0.08m) extends from the SSW edge of the interior to the centre (L c. 14m), then turns E (L c. 8.5m). The spoil from this appears to have been deposited in the SE quadrant of the interior, where the ground level is higher and less even. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 27 October 2021

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Ballymahony, likely dating to the early medieval period, is situated on a wet, elevated plateau with extensive views. It appears as an 'Enclosure' on historical maps and is associated with local folklore regarding faeries and otherworldly beings.

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