Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Baile Na Leacan

Internal diam. 25.4m A bivallate rath situated on an ESE facing slope overlooking the estuary of the Owenmore river. About 50m to SW, a small river flows ESE towards the estuary. The banks have been levelled to NW and a straight field wall now defines this side; the banks around the remainder of the perimeter are densely overgrown. The inner bank rises up to 1.5m above the interior and up to 2.5m above the base of the fosse; it is 4.8m wide at base. The fosse has been filled in along the E half of the site, but is well-preserved in the SW sector where it is c. 2m wide at base and c. 2 to 3m deep below the crest of the outer bank. This latter is c. 3.7m wide at base and 1m high externally; for a short distance at SE, it is obscured by a NE-SW running field wall. There are intermittent traces of drystone facing on the inner flanks of both banks. The interior is traversed by a series of cultivation ridges. An Seabhac (1939, 227) recorded a souterrain in a ringfort in this townland, but it is not clear to which of the 3 known ringforts he refers. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 335. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 6 August 2013