Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Clasheen

In level pasture, with views SW to Macgillycuddy's Reeks. A circular area (23m NW-SE; 22m NE-SW) defined by two earthen banks with an intervening fosse and an outer fosse. The inner bank (Wth 3.65m; int. H 0.7m; ext. H 2.1m) is evident ESE-NNW. The intervening fosse and outer bank (Wth 3.8m; int. H 1.6m; ext. H 1m) are evident ENE-NNW. Intermittent traces of a shallow outer fosse (Wth 1.5m; D c. 0.1m) are evident ENE-NNW. The inner bank is heavily overgrown S-NNW. A road (N22) and a wall truncate the NE arc. There is a break in the outer bank at S. A field boundary abuts the outer bank at WNW and another skirts externally along the SSW arc. A strip along the NE side of the rath was excavated in the 1990s due to the upgrading of the road. Excavation revealed a spread of burnt soil, stone and iron pan on a gravel layer, suggesting to the excavator that 'some form of smelting or metal working' had occurred at the site (Connolly 1994, 42). A possible souterrain (KE067-039001-) and a possible hut site (KE067-039002-) are in the level interior. Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 31 January 2011 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 40/1976).