Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in An Clochán (tc An Clochán)

Internal diam. 31m Lisgortnarah/Lios Gort na Ráth: A univallate rath situated on a fairly level tract of pastureland about 150m from the W shore of the Owenmore estuary. A level, circular area is enclosed by a single bank of earth and stone which has been considerably disturbed by animal burrows and the roots of trees. The bank is a maximum of c. 1.8m high internally, c. 2m high externally and averages 3.65m in width at base. The NNW portion of the bank functions also as the road boundary and the external face has been revetted with drystone masonry here. There are fragmentary traces of stone revetment elsewhere along the inner and outer faces of the bank and these may formerly have been continuous. A 4m wide gap at SW has been blocked by a later wall. There is also an ill-defined gap, 1.4m wide, at ENE. Parts of the interior are impenetrable due to dense vegetation. Several piles of loose stone and stretches of wall foundations are discernible but there could not be inspected closely. On the 1st edition of the OS map a trigonometrical station is shown immediately inside the bank at E and some of the spreads of stone may be related to this. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 362. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 6 August 2013