Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Gearha (dunkerron North By.)

Internal diam. 32.8m N-S, 31.6m E-W This circular caher is located on a low knoll in boggy rock-strewn pasture about 200m W of the Gaddagh river. The enclosing feature survives mostly as an overgrown band of stone collapse, and a thick layer of peat intermixed with stone debris abuts it externally. External to this is a possible fosse, shallow and ill-defined, which is most clearly visible in the NE and SW sectors where it averages .45m deep and 2.8m wide. The bank is 2.1m high externally, has an average width of 4m, and falls 1.2m to the interior of the site. A 2m wide entrance gap is located at NE, and an inconspicuous causeway traverses the fosse at this point. Two circular huts and a possible souterrain are located in the NE quadrant of the site's interior. The hut (KE065-088001-) closest to the enclosing bank measures 3.4m in internal diameter and its .6m high wall, preserved as a stony bank with large boulders, features a .8m wide entrance gap at NW. The second hut (KE065-088003-), adjacent at SW, survives as a low stony bank enclosing an area measuring 4.2m in diameter; a 2m wide gap occurs on its NW side. Close to the second hut, but more centrally located, is an L-shaped depression, 6.2m N-S x 5.5m E-W. It averages 1m deep and 2m in basal width. A short stretch of stone facing occurs along its W side, towards the S end. This depression may represent a collapsed or dug-out souterrain (KE065-088002-). A short distance outside the caher at NW are a number of low, partially peat-covered, stone walls. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 590. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 29 July 2013