What is recorded here

Shean Forts is a fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Rathnaleen South, County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a circular area about 45.5 metres wide, with a 3.9-metre earthen bank, a 10.3-metre-wide and 3.63-metre-deep ditch, and a 14.7-metre outer bank. The Dublin to Nenagh railway cuts through its northwest quadrant. A 20-metre-wide, 4-metre-high central mound has been dug into to a depth of 1.3 metres, and the whole site is planted with beech trees.

Situated on level ground in undulating pastureland. A circular area (diam. c. 45.5m E-W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 3.9m; int. H 0.65m; ext. H 3.26m), a fosse (Wth 10.3m; D 3.63m) and an outer bank/walkway (Wth 14.7m; ext. H 1.35m). The main Dublin to Nenagh railway line truncates the NW quadrant (post 1840). A steep-sided, earthen mound occupies the centre of the site (diam. c. 20m; H 4m). The top of this is dug into to a depth of 1.3m. The sharp profile of the defences, the lack of a causeway or entrance, the very broad outer bank, the central mound which could be interpreted as 'tea-mount', the planting of the site with beech trees and the connection to a nearby possible ringfort (TN021-007003) by a tree-lined avenue would all suggest that this may be a tree-ring possibly modifying an existing ringfort. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

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