What is recorded here

Fairy forts are misnamed; they are human ringforts, often farmed or built into. In Lisgannon, a double-banked rath once rose about forty metres across, then became a bawn of sods under Capt. Hugh O'Reilly in 1601. Levelled now, it keeps only a ghost-line in the ground: a room without walls, remembering the shape of the people who stopped it being a room at all.

Although the site has been levelled, the outline of its enclosing features may still be distinguished. An earlier report (OPW 1968) described it as a raised subcircular area (int. dims. c. 40m N-W; c. 35m E-W) enclosed by two massive earthen banks with outer fosses. Original entrance not recognisable. Davies (1948, 118-9) believed Capt. Hugh O'Reilly transformed the rath into a 'bawn of sods' in 1601 (CV021-060002-). He speculated that it 'was originally single-ringed but was reconstructed with a second ring separated from the fosse by a wide berm'. Not visible at ground level. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1995). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 December 2008

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