Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Baile Mór Thiar

Internal diam. c. 20 to 25m This site is located in rough mountain terrain, on a SW facing slope overlooking Ventry Harbour. It is comprised of a well-preserved souterrain and 2 hut sites enclosed by the very fragmentary remains of a possible cashel wall. A modern field wall bisects the site N-S, and the souterrain is located immediately to W of this and the huts immediately to E of it. A 3rd hut is located c. 55m to SSE of the site. Only 2 short sections of the possible cashel wall are visible. A 7m long arc of large, horizontally-laid slabs may represent the outer face of its W section, while the inner face of its NE section may be represented by an arc of drystone walling, up to .4m high. The enclosure thus defined is c. 20 to 25m in diameter internally. Huts: The 2 huts are conjoined with each other and lie in a rough N-S line about 5m to ESE of the souterrain entrance. The S hut consists of a circular depression measuring 5.4m in diameter and c. 0.8m in depth. This is surrounded by a slight stony bank, 1.6m wide and .4m high externally. The entrance must have been located in the W sector where the bank is non-existent and the external ground level only slightly higher than the interior. The N hut consists of an oval hollow measuring 5.9m NW-SE x 4.9m NE-SW. The depression is up to 1.25m deep and is lined with drystone walling. It is open along the SW and W sectors i.e. from S to NW. The 3rd hut is very dilapidated but appears to have been circular in plan and c. 4m in diameter internally. The wall is reduced to a low stony bank, .8m high internally, .3m high externally and c. 0.75m wide, and a couple of short stretches of the inner wall face are visible. The S facing entrance is represented by a featureless gap. Souterrain: The souterrain is L-shaped in plan, consisting of a passage and chamber linked by a short creepway. The passage runs SE-NW for a total length of 3.5m and the creepway links its NW end to the NE corner of the oval chamber which is aligned SW-NE. The passage is in 2 parts. The 1st section is 1.35m long x .55m wide and increases from .5m in height at its SE end to .65m at its NW end; the sloping floor may be due to an accumulation of fill in this entrance area. The 1st half of this section is unroofed but 2 slabs roof the 2nd half. The walls are of dry stone construction except for one upright slab which rises the full height of the passage. The 2nd section of the passage commences with a lowering of the roof at the NW end of the 1st section. At this point the passage is only .5m wide and .45m high, but the fill on its floor gradually fades out and the 2nd section of the passage measures 2.15m in length, up to .8m in width and up to .7m in height. The walls are of dry stone construction and the passage is roofed by a series of flat slabs. The creepway which opens off the NW end of the passage measures .58m in width and up to .65m in height. Its side walls are each formed by 2 upright slabs. Two jamb stones, set between and at right angles to these slabs, reduce the width of the entrance to only .4m at its mid-point. The creepway is roofed by 3 lintels, the middle one being stepped below the other two. The chamber measures 2.5m x 1.55m x c. 1.4m in height. The walls are constructed of upright slabs, .35 to .6m high, overlain by dry stone masonry. The upper 2 courses are formed by larger stones which are corbelled inwards to support the 5 roofing slabs. The latter are stepped downwards from SW to NE and are laid in a slightly fan shape, so that, though the SW roof slab is aligned NW-SE, the NE slab is also the 1st slab of the entrance passage and is aligned NE-SW. The SW roof slab has collapsed inwards and the easiest access to the chamber is by means of the aperture this has created. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 544. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013