Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Cloghonan

Situated on a flat, level area, relatively low-lying, under pasture. The site was levelled c. 20-30 years ago and a bungalow built directly S of the SE quadrant. The landowner remembers a heap of stones in the centre when he was a boy which may have been the remains of a castle (TN027-149001); the stones are now gone. Present remains consist of a roughly circular area (diam. 32.7m N-S; 36.4m E-W) defined by a very denuded bank (Wth 8m; int. H 0.36m; ext. H 0.21m), outer fosse (Wth 5.6m; D 0.29m) and outer bank (Wth c. 7m), particularly clear in the E half of the site and at W. The OS Letters refer to 'the indistinct ruin of another old castle situated in the southeast corner of an earthen fort. It is said that this is the castle from which the Townland was called Cloch Othanain, the Rock of Othanan, but I think that the real Clock Othanain is the castle which forms a part of the modern Castle Otway' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 190). 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