What is recorded here

Marianne Rachael King wrote about a double-ramparted fort with a bowl-shaped interior three feet above the surrounding field. That clear description still fits the overgrown circular bank in Gurteenard pasture, even though thorns and grass now hide the inner ground. The northern gap remains the only visible entrance, while the forgotten passage beneath the soil may still lead through darkness to another part of the hill.

In pasture, on NW-facing slope. Circular, heavily overgrown area (diam. c. 45m) enclosed by earthen bank (int. H 0.6m; ext. H 1.05m), only accessible to N; intervening fosse (D 0.2m); low outer earthen bank (H 0.4m). Interior inaccessible due to overgrowth. Bowman (1934, 207) describes double-ramparted fort, with 'bowl-shaped' interior, 'c. 3 feet higher than outer field level'. Possible Man-made underground passage (CO023-279---) in interior. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). 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 Gurteenard is a circular early-medieval defensive or domestic settlement, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries. Local tradition associates such sites with fairy folklore, and they were often avoided due to beliefs in supernatural inhabitants.

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