Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Baile Na Náith

Internal diam. 34.2m N-S, 33.5m E-W Gort na Caheragh/Gort na Cathrach: A roughly circular univallate ringfort situated on the SW slopes of the SW peak of the Reenconnell ridge, just below the crest of the pass between the latter and Lateevemore. A number of mounds and low upright stones in the interior suggest that it was used as a burial ground (KE042-074001-) though no tradition of such survives. The original enclosing bank or wall is reduced, for the most part, to a low earth and stone base or footing to the later drystone-built wall which now encloses the site along all but the NE sectors. The bank enclosing this latter sector is probably original but it is now no more than .4m high and 1.5 to 1.8m wide. Elsewhere, the bank is c. 0.1m high internally, from .1 to 1.65m high externally and it extends up to 4m beyond the outer face of the overlying wall. In the W sector its outer flank is stepped, the upper step, .75m high, being faced with drystone masonry, up to .5m high. The later wall is c. 1 to 2m high and .5 to 2m wide. A 1.2m wide gap through the wall at WSW provides access to the interior. Two large flagstones create a stepped approach, and the E jamb is extended outwards by a large, neatly-faced mound of stones. A large oval hollow, c. 12m long NW-SE and up to 1m deep, lies immediately inside the entrance; it may result from quarrying. Much of the remainder of the interior, particularly the S half, is occupied by low, stony mounds and low upright stones. The largest mound measures c. 8m long ENE-WSW, c. 2 to 3m wide and c. 0.45m high; its NE end is marked by a standing stone, 1.37m high. The majority of the other uprights are less than a metre high and are often paired as if to form small graves. An Seabhac (1939, 114) mentions a clochaun here, but none of the internal features can, at present, be interpreted as such. Rather they are reminiscent of the graves and grave-markers typical of calluragh burial grounds. It seems likely that the site was, at some stage, used for such a purpose. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 337. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 6 August 2013