What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Newstone, County Meath: a large circular embankment near the top of a drumlin ridge, recorded as a fort on the 1836 map and still readable as a grass-covered ring about forty-eight metres across. It has the shape of a threshold rather than a toy: a place where people may have kept fire, tools, children or argument away from the road. The fairy name does not dismiss that human sharpness; it admits the edge still standing inside the circle.

Located towards the top of the SE-facing spine of a NW-SE drumlin ridge. A large embanked circular enclosure (ext. diam. c. 80m) is depicted on the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map where it is described in gothic lettering as a ‘Fort’, and it is suggested by a curve in a field bank SE-W-NW on the 1908 edition. This is a circular grass-covered area (int. diam. 48m N-S) defined by a slight scarp at S and a fosse suggested by lush growth (Wth 5m) at N, and there is a slight curve in the field bank SSW-WNW. The outline is visible on the OSI aerial images (1995) (OSAP). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 5 September 2018

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