Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Mount Temple

Situated on the N edge of a large ridge, in pasture, with extensive views in all directions. Depicted on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map as a roughly oval-shaped earthwork (approx. dims. 31m NW-SE; 24m NE-SW). Monument described in 1979 as the much defaced remains of a roughly oval-shaped area which is enclosed by an earthen bank, an intervening fosse and an outer earthen bank. The inner bank is present from NNW-N-NNE and has been removed by quarrying from NNE-E-S-W-NNW. There is a small heap of sod-covered stones on the site of the bank at SSW which seems to be a spoil mound. The exterior of the inner bank and the intervening fosse have been much defaced by quarrying from SW-W-NW and from NE-E-ESE. The outer bank has been levelled from NNE-E-SSE and has been incorporated into a field fence from SSE-S-W-NW, which is flanked on the exterior by an old laneway. There is no sign of an entrance. The interior has a gentle S-facing slope and has been disturbed by quarrying just inside the perimeter at S where there are two shallow depressions. There are a number of large boulders on the edge of the site at NW and smaller stones deposited into a quarry depression at W. There are a number of natural rock outcrops in the field to S of the monument. Monument is visible today as a partially tree-lined roughly oval-shaped earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 08 November 2019