Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Shanganagh

Situated in grassland 270m W of the Irish Sea and 530mm SSE of Shanganagh Castle (DU026-120----). The townland boundary with Cork Little marks the boundary of this field to the E and S. No surface remains visible. Possible levelled ringfort originally identified in 2018 during geophysical survey carried out under licence No. 18R0223 (Nicholls 2019, 6). The survey identified the remains of a bivallate enclosure in Area 2. The presence of the enclosure was confirmed in 2019 by archaeological testing carried out by Lisa Kavanagh of IAC ltd. under licence No. 19E0098. Archaeological monitoring carried out by Steven McGlade under licence No. 20E0562 monitored the removal of the grass and upper level of the sod (under Licence No. 20E0562) overlying the monument. Archaeological test trenching undertaken by Lisa Kavanagh uncovered the remains of a possible bivallate ringfort (ext. diam. 64m) consisting of a circular shaped area (diam. c 45m) defined by two fosses (Wth 2.3m; D 0.85m). A human skull was identified at a depth of c. 0.8m in the inner fosse (Kavanagh 2019, 13). A hand phalange and fragment of rib were also retrieved from around the head, which may indicate historic disturbance or an unusual body position (ibid.). The remains were preserved in situ. It is unknown whether the enclosure contains more burials or if the skeleton within the inner ditch is an isolated example (Kavanagh 2019, 19). Two field boundary ditches, one extending to the northeast and one to the southeast, were identified and excavated during the 2021 works. These appear to be related to the bivallate enclosure, possibly part of an associated (petal) field system. A kiln complex was identified to the east of the ditch to the southeast. Two kilns were identified, with the later example being within a small enclosure. It was decided to preserve the archaeology in situ within the golf course development and that minimal intervention would be required over the monument and that a 10m buffer zone would be left around it (McGlade 2022). Kavanagh, L. 2019 Archaeological assessment at Woodbrook, (Shanganagh and Cork Little), County Dublin, Licence No. 19E0098. Report by IAC Ltd., submitted to NMS. McGlade, S. 2022 Preliminary excavation report, Corke Little, Shankill, Co. Dublin, Licence No. 20E0562. Unpublished excavation report by Archaeology Plan, submitted to NMS. Nicholls, J. 2019 Geophysical survey report, lands in Cork Little & Shanganagh townlands, South County Dublin, Licence No. 18R0223. Report by Target Archaeological Geophysics, submitted to NMS. See attached images provided courtesy of Steven McGlade Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Steven McGlade, Archaeology Plan archaeological consultancy Date of upload: 13 January 2023