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Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Poulcaragharush

Fairy fort / stone ringfort

What is recorded here

Fairy fort, Poulcaragharush: a circular cashel, 22.8m wide, with a high-quality entrance gateway and an underground passage in the NW interior. It stands on high ground above the Eanty Valley, marked ‘caher’ on the 1842 map and still visible through hazel and pasture. Other cashels lie nearby, suggesting a small cluster of defended or ceremonial places rather than one isolated mound.
On high ground overlooking the Eanty Valley to the N and another valley to the SE, with land sloping in all directions except NW. In rough pasture and hazel within a large multiperiod field system (CL009-032001-). Hachured and named ‘caher’ on the 1842 ed. of the OS 6-inch map, and hachured on the 1920 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. This circular cashel (22.8m E–W; 22.6m N–S) is defined by a stone wall (Wth c. 1.85–2.35m; int. H 0.2–0.3m; ext. H 1–1.8m) with an outer wall-face of horizontally laid stones. A modern drystone wall is built over the outer wall-face. There is an entrance (Wth 1.4m; visible H 1m) at E, its exterior mostly obscured by hazel. However, a large lintel (L 2.1m; H 0.3m; T 0.5m) is visible in position over the entrance on the outer wall-face. Behind this there is a displaced lintel (L 1.45m; H 0.3m; T 0.3m). Westropp (1898, 362) described this entrance gateway as of quite high-quality masonry, its jambs as non-inclining, with a short corner doorpost stone on the S side (see his drawing attached). The cashel interior is generally at the same level as the surviving wall. There is a spread of stone collapse (Wth 2–4m; H 0.2–0.3m) against the inner wall-face. In the NW interior there are the remains of a Man-made underground passage (CL009-042003-). Other cashels lie c. 26m to the NW (CL009-042002-) and c. 136m to the SSE (CL009-043----). The following images have been uploaded: CL009-042002-_01.jpg Photo of entrance from W. CL009-042002-_02.jpg Drawing of gateway (Westropp 1898, 362) Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 24 January 2022

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What survives
Recorded monument

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