Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballyonan OR Doonaghboy

Situated on an E-facing slope, 1km S of Kilkee, on a slightly raised commanding area in generally lowlying pasture with good views in all directions. A roughly circular bivallate rath (int. diam. c. 34m N-S; c. 28m E-W; overall diam. c. 75m) defined by an inner bank (Wth 9-10m; H up to 1.1m (much reduced)), a flat-bottomed water-filled fosse (Wth 5-8m), an outer bank (Wth 6-13m) and a shallow external fosse (av. Wth 6m) evident from ESE to S. The outer bank is composed of gravel in the E sector and of earth and stone at W. While it measures 6m in width at W it spreads to as much as 13m elsewhere. The interior is generally level with a slight slope to the S in places. At ESE, water escapes from the two fosses and flows through a narrow well-defined channel through the field. Westropp (1909, 119) notes that this is probably ‘Doonaghbwee Caghir’ held by Teige O’Cahan in 1655 in the townland of ‘Balleonan’ now merged with Doonaghboy. He describes the banks as steep and 5-6ft (1.5-1.8m) in height at W and 6-8ft (1.8-2.4m) in height at E. He also describes and depicts (ibid., 124) a wide berm (c. 12m) between the fosse and the outer bank and notes that this is rare in Clare forts. This rath is the largest and most easterly of seven raths in Ballyonan or Doonaghboy townland, three of which are bivallate. It is the only one with evidence of an external fosse. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 18 February 2015