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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Slievedurda

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Slievedurda holds a thirty-metre circular fort where a low earthen bank meets a drystone wall along a laneway. The wall stands one metre high with an earthen core, marking a boundary between human labour and fairy ownership. People may have lived inside the ring before retiring the place to legends, but the stones still exclude ordinary foot traffic.
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 Circular area (diam. c. 30m) defined from SW-NE by very low bank visible in low growth and by curving drystone wall from NE-SW of laneway (H 1m). This wall has an earthen core.
A fairy fort, or earthen ringfort, in Slievedurda is a circular earthwork enclosure typical of early-medieval Ireland, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. Local tradition associates such sites with the supernatural, often referring to them as dwellings of the fairies or ancient Irish deities.

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

What survives
Recorded monument

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