Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Lynn

Monument placed on the Register of Historic Monuments on the 14th day of April 1989. Schedule Serial Number 3/89, extract from Iris Oifigiúil 25th April 1989. Situated on a small but prominent ridge or hillock on the W edge of pasture land with poorly drained land to W. River Brosna 270m to W. Ringfort (WM026-006----) 110m to NE with second ringfort (WM026-007----) 315m to SE. Extensive views from S-W-N but limited to E due to rising land. Depicted as a large circular shaped ringfort on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map but as a D-shaped earthwork on the revised 1911 ed. OS 25-inch map. Present remains consist of a large sub-triangular or D-shaped area (approx. diams. 57m N-S x 46m E-W) with straight side at W enclosed by a low earthen bank and shallow fosse with traces of an external bank only visible from NNW-N-NNE. Possible quarry hole of post-1700 date visible at SSW. A berm feature is visible from S-W-NNW only. A gap (Wth 2.9m) in the NW side of the monument may represent an original entrance feature although this is uncertain and may just be a cattle gap. The interior of the fort rises from the perimeter towards the centre of the monument, the slope is steepest from SW-W and follows the slope of the natural hillock on which the monument stands. The remains of a large rectangular-shaped house site (WM025-005001-) can be seen just E of centre. N of the house site there are the remains of a poorly preserved low earthen bank running E-W across the interior of the monument. A roughly square-shaped depression or hollow (dims. 5.5m x 4.4m) of uncertain date or function is visible in ENE quadrant of ringfort. This depression may be the result of quarrying although it has been suggested that this sunken area may represent the remains of a second house site (WM026-005002-) defined by a low earthen bank (Wth 3m; int. H 0.3m; ext. H 0.5m). A second gap (Wth 1.9m) at ESE in the enclosing bank of the ringfort may be an entrance feature related to these house sites. See attached sketch plan of monument drawn by ASI fieldworker c. 1971 Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 16 August 2017