What is recorded here

Fairy forts are human remains, misnamed because the alternatives were worse: admission that the builders are forgotten, or invention of a story to fill the hole. Ballyshane is no exception. Its ring is worn shallow by ploughs and years, but the D-shaped bank still marks a boundary someone drew around their own life. The fairies are only the gap where the names should be.

The following description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Carlow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Monument No. HM00323, this monument was entered in the Register of Historic Monuments on the 02 March 1983. D-shaped area defined by low bank. Shape and lack of visible evidence of entrance and fosse are probably because of farming activities in vicinity of monument (est original diam. c. 30m).

A fairy fort, or earthen ringfort, in Ballyshane is a circular earthwork typical of early-medieval Ireland, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy folk, and they were often avoided for fear of disturbing supernatural inhabitants.

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