Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Carrigaha

The very ruined remains of a cashel situated about 250m S of Tralee Bay. The wall has for the most part been reduced to a band of collapse now partly overlain and obscured by the wall of an irregular modern enclosure. This latter measures c. 28m in internal diameter and surrounds a small plantation of trees. A single course of the outer face of the earlier wall can be traced along most of the E sector and 2 courses are visible at the S end where this section runs into the modern wall. In general it lies c. 2.2 to 4m outside the latter. A couple of possible inner facing stones, located inside the modern wall, indicate a wall thickness of 2.5m; this is somewhat less than the thickness (c. 4m) recorded by the Co. Kerry Field Club (1946). An oval depression in the NW corner of the interior was interpreted by the Field Club as a hut-site but could alternatively be part of a souterrain passage or chamber. It measures 3.3m x 1.4m and is defined by drystone walling, now largely defaced. A section of intact walling forms a rounded angle at the NE corner. A low, stony bank defines the S perimeter but at the SE corner this arcs away from the feature. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 554. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013