What is recorded here

Mortons and Butlers transformed Coolmain from a dangerous marsh into a productive estate, yet the old fort still stands beside their grand house. Its earthwork may have marked a boundary, a trading place or a warning about the water below. The marsh does not obey estate lines. It keeps its own shape, waits out human pride and returns whenever certainty becomes excessive.

Access to site refused by landowner. Marked on OS 6-inch map (1842) as circular enclosure (diam. c. 30m). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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