Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Doire Fhionáin Mór

Internal diam. c. 16m N-S This well-built though heavily overgrown caher is located in mature forestry about 115m W of Darrynane House. Its entire E half is obscured in thicket, and the enclosing wall here appears to have been constructed on rock outcrop. The wall is only visible intermittently along the W sector, where at least two different types of construction are apparent. At SW it is faced internally and externally with coursed slate slabs enclosing a rubble core, while at W the facing is roughly coursed and is formed of larger, blockier slabs. At W the wall averages .7m high internally, 1.5m high externally and is 3.8m wide. A basal step, averaging .7m high and .6m wide, occurs intermittently along the external wall-face but does not appear to be bonded into it. It also displays various constructional techniques. A much eroded and heavily overgrown gap, 1m wide, occurs at SSW. A U-shaped, drystone-built souterrain (KE106-073001-) occurs in the W half of the caher's interior. Many of its roofing lintels have been removed. An opening, .5m x .3m, is contained within the enclosing wall of the site at SSW and gives access to a passage, 1.1m high and .75m wide, which extends NE for a distance of 3.8m before turning to continue E for a further 4.5m. This passage measures .85m high and .7m wide, and the roofing slabs of its mid-section have collapsed. A recess, .75m wide and .7m deep, occurs in its S side-wall at the E end, and may evidence the original entrance to the souterrain. From here the passage turns to N and extends in this direction for 2.7m. No roofing lintels survive on this stretch, which is only .4m wide. At its N end this passage turns to W and runs for 2.2m, at which point the level of its floor drops by .4m. An accumulation of fill along the floor of the passage prevents access beyond this point. It appears to continue, however, for a further 2m, at which point, beneath the caher's enclosing wall, it widens considerably. An inaccessible opening, .5m x .2m, occurs in the base of the caher's external wall-face at this point, where there is a 1m wide break in the basal step. 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. 575. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 29 July 2013