What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Blossomgrove: a 32 m ring on the hill crest in County Cork, mapped in 1842 before ploughs and fences took most of it back. That much is clear. What is lovely is the gap: a whole small world, perhaps a farm, perhaps a shrine, perhaps a child’s marrow-bone kingdom, erased by ordinary use. The northern fence still holds part of the bank, a ribbon of memory. To walk past it is to touch the edge of a place that refused to be forgotten, even when humans stopped naming it.

On crest of hill. Shown on 1842 OS 6-inch map as circular enclosue (diam. c. 32m). Levelled; bank (max. H 1.7m) retained in field fence to N. No other surface trace. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

A fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Blossomgrove is a likely early-medieval circular earthwork, indicated by a surviving bank and historical map evidence. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy folklore, often regarded as the homes of supernatural beings or portals to the Otherworld.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.