What is recorded here

Mortons and Aylmers contested the fort during the Norman invasion, but Aylmer kept it and built a castle there. The family held the place through generations until English crowns repeated their claims and seized it. Aylmer line survived the losses, kept identity in Cork, and returned parts of the land in later centuries.

In level pasture, atop low rise, S of Blackwater River. Circular, saucer-shaped area (22.5m E-W; 21.7m N-S) enclosed by earthen bank (H 1.3m), partially overgrown with young oak trees. One of three ringforts (8555; 8557) on E-W line, to S of river. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). 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 Rathduane is a circular, saucer-shaped enclosure with an earthen bank, typical of early-medieval ringforts (raths) used as farmsteads or defensive structures. Local folklore associates such sites with the faé, and they were often avoided due to beliefs in their magical or supernatural significance.

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