What is recorded here

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Rathanny is a fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Rathanny, County Tipperary, Ireland. The oval enclosure measures 16.2 metres north-south and 19.3 metres east-west on an east-facing low-hill slope about 10 metres west of the River Ara. An earthen bank, 0.5 metres high internally and 0.9 metres high externally, is paired with a 4.5-metre-wide, 1.5-metre-deep outer ditch from south-southwest through west to north. The 2012 source records the bank and ditch as not visible in the southern sector, possibly destroyed by an east-west field bank, and notes a possible original entrance in the southeast quadrant.

On the E-facing slope of a low hill, in hillocky terrain in pasture with meandering streams. The River Ara flows roughly N-S c. 10m from the E side of the ringfort. There is a standing stone (TS067-129----) 57m to the NNW and another (TS067-130----) 124m to the WSW. An oval enclosure (dims. 16.2m N-S; 19.3m E-W) defined by an earthen bank (int. H 0.5m; ext. H 0.9m; Wth at crest 1.5m; Wth at base 4m) with some stone (diam. 0.1-0.15m) protruding and a wide, flat-bottomed outer fosse (Wth 4.5m; D 1.5m) from SSW-W-N. The bank and fosse are not visible in the S sector, these may have been destroyed by a field bank which runs roughly E-W along the S side of the ringfort. The bank is disturbed in the SE quadrant where there may have been an original entrance. The interior slopes with the E-SE slope of the hill. Hawthorn and whitethorn bushes are growing around the bank in the N and W sectors. The interior is relatively free of scrub but is somewhat overgrown with thistles and nettles. The ringfort has subject to cattle poaching. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 12 December 2012

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Rathanny is a circular earthwork typical of early-medieval Ireland, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries. Local folklore associates such sites with the faé, and they were often believed to be entrances to the Otherworld or homes of mythical beings.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.