Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Kilcullane

In flat gently undulating wet pasture at the junction of three townlands (Loughgur, Moohane and Kilcullane) predominantly within Kilcullane townland straddling the townland boundary where the N edge of the external fosse is located within Moohane. The site is located 1km SE of the Carraig Aille stone forts (LI032-053002-/003-) at Lough Gur. The site is part of a complex of archaeological monuments comprising of a ringfort (LI032-071001-) at its centre; outer defensive enclosures (LI032-071002-) surrounding the fort; possible settlement earthworks (LI032-071004-) abutting the SE side and a mound (LI032-071003-) located 30m NW in Loughgur townland. The ringfort (LI032-071001-) is depicted as a circular antiquity (ext. diam. c. 35m) on the 1840 ed. OSi 6-inch map. Depicted as a circular embanked enclosure (ext. diam. c. 37.5m) on the 1897 ed. OSi 25-inch map. O'Kelly (1942-3, 241) described the monument as a 'circular earthen platform surrounded by a fosse, which is continuous. The entrance is not recognisable. The platform is 5' [1.5m] high over the fosse-bottom and the overall diameter is 135' [41m]. Situated in poor low-land'. Outer enclosing elements (LI032-071002-) identified by Bruff aerial photographic survey in 1986 (Bruff 175; AP 4/3606) as outer double ditched enclosures around a ringfort (LI032-071001-). The defensive enclosures are visible on the OSi orthoimage taken 2005-12 and on Digital Globe orthoimage taken 2011-2013 where the extent of the external defences (LI032-071002-) are visible up to 30m outside the interior of the fort (ext. diam. c. 83m N-S; 73m E-W). The W and NW margins of the circular defensive enclosures have been truncated by later agricultural field boundaries and associated land improvement visible on Google Earth orthoimages taken 05/04/2006; 25/03/2017 and 28/06/2018. The latest Google Earth orthoimage taken 20/09/2020 in combination with the Bruff aerial photograph suggests that the site consists of the internal enclosure surround by a bank and two external fosses each with an external bank. See attached Bruff survey image Bruff 4/3606 and Google Earth orthoimages Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 19 November 2020 See attached ASI aerial photograph ASIAP - 349/1 taken 13/09/2002.