Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Frenchbrook South

In pasture, encompassing the summit of a hill/small ridge, with good views in all directions over the surrounding, sharply undulating, limestone terrain. This cashel consists of a roughly oval area (41m E-W; 27.7m N-S), its outline in plan determined by the available space on the hill summit. The original enclosing element appears to have been a stone wall but this has been almost entirely removed, with remnants of an external stone facing or kerb of large limestone blocks still visible only at E-S. At W the cashel is defined by a scarp (H c. 0.8m), and elsewhere by a scarp that merges with the steep natural slope of the hill. The interior area is largely level, except at the E edge where there is an irregular-shaped sod-covered rise (max. dim. c. 8-10m). A low, sod-covered linear rise, barely discernible, forms an internal division extending across the middle of the interior on a NNW-SSE axis. In the SW quadrant the ground slopes down to S, where there is a slightly sunken entrance gap (L c. 8m; Wth c. 2m), defined on the W side by close-set stones. It leads to a low causeway (Wth c. 2m) which extends for c. 10-12m to SSE across a natural dip in the contour of the ridge. According to local tradition, there was a stone-built souterrain (MA121-024007) within the cashel. There is a ringbarrow (MA121-191) located 10m to NNW, and an enclosure (MA121-02400-3) c. 40m to SSE. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 22 December 2014