Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Camlin

Located on a gentle S-facing slope in rolling pastureland which has been reclaimed. Depicted as an irregular-shaped enclosure outlined by an inner and outer line on the 1st ed. (1840) OS 6-inch map and as a roughly circular enclosure on the current (1901-05) ed. with a section of fosse at S. Although the site has been levelled the circular outline (diam. 36m N-S and E-W) is visible as a low raised area (ext. H 0.53m) with a very shallow outer fosse (Wth 4.1m). Illustrated as D-shaped on the 1835 OS and circular on the 1904 Edition. Within the LMA the internal area (excluding the ditch) is c.54m E-W x 22m N-S. The 1904 Edition shows the ringfort as circular. The ditch is 4m wide x 1.5m - 2m deep. Approximately 40% of the site is within the LMA. A DTM topographic survey of the ringfort both inside and outside the LMA has been completed. The ringfort base is formed of a terrace of subsoil that is up to 1m higher than the ground to the S. There is clear evidence for a partly ploughed out bank inside the ditch. On the W side is a building with a large hearth and an unstratified iron knife, copper alloy stick pin and a flat metal disc-like ornament were found in cleaning this area. On the E side of the interior is a Christian style cemetery with minimum of 20 - 40 (possibly more) adults and juveniles aligned E-W (head to west). Concerning the burials: • one grave has been exposed with stone head supports, • one has a grave cut lined with small stones, • one individual was buried in a slightly flexed position with the knees supported by rocks, • one grave appeared to contain the remains of two individuals • one grave contains either a severely trussed individual in a crouched position OR is an ossuary pit. These features would imply an Early Medieval date for the burials (5th to 7th century AD). The upper graves have been disturbed by ploughing and are very fragmentary Below the plough disturbed burials are further burials (although still in a relatively poor condition) that are clearly covered by the ringfort bank collapse. The cemetery appears to have a clear limit (marked by a slot) to the SW and W and presumably continues NE beyond the LMA. No formal grave goods have been found. Phase 2 Bank (and possibly ditch) A line of stakeholes (50mm at most) along the base of the external face of the ringfort bank appears to be a form of revetting. A similar arrangement appears to have held back the internal bank face. The use of wood implies a vertical palisade / wattle fence up to 1m high maximum on each face and a central mass of mud brick or a type of clunch (clay-stone mix). The relationship of the bank, revetting stakes and cemetery appears to show the bank structure covered some of the graves, implying that the bank (and presumably the large ditch) was a second phase (c.7th - 10th century). During this phase several postholes and pits also cut through the cemetery. A small bowl furnace had been set into the base of the (collapsed) bank on the S side. The interior is cut across by many plough furrows. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008