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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Fionntrá

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Two earthen rings enclose a small oval chamber on level ground west of Ventry Strand. The outer bank survives only along the east half, while the inner ring still rises a metre above the floor. A gap at the south end may have served as an entrance, though no doorway remains certain. The fort is small enough to walk across in moments, yet its double defence suggests people valued protection even in a narrow stretch of coastal land.
Internal diam. 21.5m E-W, 20.5m N-S This bivallate roughly oval rath lies on level ground about 350m W of Ventry Strand. The outer bank is present around the E half of the site only and the fosse, which is clearly defined where protected by the outer bank, is only faintly discernible around the W half of the enclosure. The fosse rises 1m to the crest of the outer bank and up to 2m to the inner bank. The latter is a maximum of 1m high above the interior. The S end of the outer bank appears to turn inwards to meet the inner bank. This feature may be the remains of a causeway but, though the inner bank is very low at this point, there is no definite entrance. There is a 2nd possible entrance at N. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 533. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013

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What survives
Recorded monument

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