Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Baile An Tsléibhe

Internal diam. 23.6m Caherlea/An Chathair Léith: Situated on the lower E slopes of Mount Eagle, this circular cashel encloses a souterrain and possible traces of 2 huts. The cashel wall consists of a rubble core faced internally and externally with drystone masonry. It is 2.1m wide and up to 1.5m high. The wall along the E sector has been reduced in part to a low mound, faced externally with modern walling that seems to preserve the line of the original wall. It is not clear where the original entrance lay, though it may have been located where a field wall runs onto the cashel wall at NW, or in the ENE sector where the wall is poorly preserved. The SW part of the interior is occupied by the low foundations of possibly 2 huts, but neither their precise shape or dimensions are discernible. The accessible portion of the souterrain runs roughly NE-SW beneath the cashel wall at SE. It consists of 2 small chambers linked by a short passage, with another passage, now blocked, leading NW from the NE chamber. This latter chamber now lacks its roof, the debris from its collapse obscuring much of the interior and lower sections of the walls. The chamber is oval in plan, and measures c. 2.8m x 2.25m. The passage leading NW from the chamber is .7m wide x .37m high and is blocked by collapse after a distance of 1.5m. A surface depression, a little further to NW, may mark another section of the souterrain, possibly the original entrance; a possible collapsed roof slab is visible here. The passage leading SW from the chamber is .9m wide, and, after a length of 1.5m, widens out to form a small chamber measuring c. 2.9m long x c. 1.5m wide. The passage is .63m high at its NE end, but the roof slabs step upwards from here until a height of c. 1.45m is attained within the chamber. The N wall of the passage is formed by a single slab, and the SW end wall of the SW chamber is earth-cut, but the remainder of the souterrain is of drystone construction, the walls of the chambers being corbelled. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 539. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013