Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Wooddown

Situated on a small rise (108m/353ft) at the S edge of a bog, with good views in all directions. Depicted on the 1837 OS 6-inch map as an oval-shaped enclosure. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 6-inch map as an oval-shaped earthwork bisected by a public road. Monument described in 1970 as a bivallate roughly circular-shaped area (dims. 33m NNE-SSW; 29m WNW-ESE) enclosed by two earthen banks with corresponding fosses and a causewayed entrance visible at S where there is a gap (Wth at top 5.4m; basal Wth 3m) in the inner bank, a gap (Wth at top 3.6m; basal Wth 2.1m) in the outer bank and a causeway (max. Wth at top 3.3m; max. basal Wth 5.6m; max. H 0.4m) across the fosse. The centre of the monument is bisected by a public road running WNW-ESE. The inner bank is almost reduced to a scarp yet drops steeply on the exterior. A shallow intervening fosse is visible from NNE-E-S-WNW. There are indications of a berm between the intervening fosse and outer bank from WSW-W. The outer bank is best preserved from E-S-W and is almost completely denuded from W-N-E. Traces of an outer fosse are present from SSE-S-W. The perimeter has been defaced from E-SE during construction of a modern field fence running NNE-SSW. The interior rises slightly from the perimeter towards the centre. Monument is visible on Digital Globe aerial photography as a tree-covered monument to N of public road and as a tree-lined enclosure to S. See attached profile of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 04 June 2019