Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Baile Uí Shé

Internal diam. 29.5m N-S, 31.2m E-W. Situated on the lower W slopes of Ballysitteragh mountain, this bivallate rath contains the remains of at least 2 hut-sites and a possible souterrain. The outer fosse and bank have been levelled and the inner fosse is only vaguely discernible, but these features have been described in several earlier accounts and are shown on a plan published by Du Noyer in 1858. Du Noyer described the outer fosse as small and shallow. The ground immediately outside the fosse was raised very slightly above the external ground level but this feature was not substantial enough to interpret as a 3rd bank. The outer bank was 10 feet (3.05m) or 12 feet (3.66m) thick, according to Du Noyer and Westropp (1897, 301) respectively, and was faced externally with large flagstones. The inner fosse has been filled in with field clearance debris and with the debris from the outer bank, but Du Noyer, Westropp and Wakeman (1903, 177) each describe it as 25 feet (7.62m) wide and a maximum of 20 feet (6.1m) deep. The lower, outer edge of the inner bank is obscured by the clearance debris but, according to the earlier accounts, the bank is 12 to 14 feet thick (3.66 to 4.27m). It is faced internally with well-preserved drystone masonry, c. 1.75m high. For most of its circumference this inner revetment is stepped, the lower riser being c. 1.25m high and the upper one c. 0.5m high. The terrace thus created is c. 0.85m wide, and the broad, flat top of the bank is c. 2 to 3m wide. Two steps are evident for very short stretches at NW and SE, and a c. 12m long section of the wall at E rises as a single face to the top of the bank. The latter section is less well-built and less regular in outline than the remainder and it may have been rebuilt. The W facing entrance is c. 4m wide and is lined on either side with drystone masonry. A number of short stretches of stone-facing, a single course high, extend across the entrance and these may be the remains of steps. Some very large stones are also present in the entrance area and these may be the large flagstones noted by Du Noyer who interpreted them as 'the remains of a massive stone doorway'. According to Du Noyer's plan, both the inner and outer fosses were traversed by causeways, and the gap through the outer bank was of similar dimensions to that through the inner bank. Much of the interior is occupied by an irregular, stony platform, raised a maximum of .7m above the remainder of the interior. It is delimited in places by drystone facing, and at NE a number of low stones are set upright in the ground immediately outside this facing. Two banks of stones, probably ruined walls, link the platform to the enclosure bank at S and SE. The best-preserved hut lies at the E edge of the platform. The partial remains of a 2nd hut lie at its W edge, and there are possible traces of a 3rd hut against the enclosure bank at NNE. (1) (KE043-081002-) This is a circular clochaun measuring 4.6m N-S x 4.2m E-W internally. The corbelled, drystone-built wall is preserved to a maximum height of 1.95m. The lintelled entrance faces W, in line with that of the ringfort. It is 2m long and .8 to 1.05m wide, but is blocked to within .46m of its roof. The entrance has previously been stated to face E (OSM) or NE (Du Noyer), but, unless these portions of the wall have been completely rebuilt, these accounts must be incorrect. The structure is divided internally by a later wall, probably to convert it into a sheep-shelter. The main wall bulges outwards at S to accommodate a small drystone-built wall-chamber which is entered through a lintelled opening at the base of the inner wall-face. The opening is .6m wide and .48m high but the chamber is not now accessible. The outer-face of the wall is stepped at this point, the roof of the wall-chamber lying .6m below the top of the wall. Chatterton (1839, 165-8) provided a detailed description of an extensive souterrain KE043-081003- which opened off the wall directly opposite the entrance, but it is not definite that it is to this site that she refers. However, it is possible that the stony platform conceals such a feature and that some of the isolated stretches of wall-facing are related to it. (2) (KE043-081001-) On Du Noyer's plan the W portion of a rectangular structure is shown at the W end of the platform. The W wall survives to a height of .4m, but the N and S walls are now reduced to low mounds of stones. (3) (KE043-081004-) A low mound of stones which abuts the enclosure bank at NNE was interpreted by Du Noyer as a ruined clochaun. (4) (KE043-081005-) The foundations of a circular hut have been noted at the SW corner of the central platform (Orpen 1910, 252-3), but the arc of facing now visible at this location appears to delimit the platform rather than a hut. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 323. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 6 August 2013