Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Pishanagh (rathconrath By.)

Situated on a low natural rise in gently undulating pasture with extensive views in all directions. Visible as a roughly circular-shaped tree-lined ringfort on Digital Globe aerial photography. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a roughly oval-shaped ringfort, in a narrow field, c. 10m to NW of a public road. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a circular-shaped area defined by a scarp with external fosse indicated from SE-W-N-NE and field boundaries radiating out from monument at E, SE and W. Monument described in 1980 as an oval-shaped area (approx. dims. 39m NE-SW; 35m NW-SE) defined by an earth and stone reduced to a scarp with shallow fosse and the remains of a low external earth and stone. The inner bank is low and has the remains of internal and external stone facing which is particularly evident from NW-NNW. The bank is pierced by a number of gaps at NNE, SE, SSE & WNW with that at NNE used as the current entrance, however it may not be the original entrance. The external bank is low and disturbed by a number of gaps and has been removed from N-E-SSE. The interior has an ENE-facing slope. There are piles of field clearance stones and boulders off-centre to SE and other loose scatters of stones forming no discernible pattern. The field boundaries radiating from the monument as shown on the 1913 OS 25-inch map have recently been removed and the material deposited in the fosse at E, SE and W. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 07 December 2018