Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

In rough pasture, on a terrace on a SW-facing slope, to the S of a stream which flows into Glanmore Lake to the W. An oval area (37.6m E-W; int. 31.1m N-S) defined by a drystone wall (T 2.8m; H 1.35m) which is cut into the upslope NE-SE. There are cattle-breaks at E, S and NNW. A berm (Wth 1-2m) skirts along the W arc externally. Several sections of the wall appear to have been rebuilt. The wall NE-E appears to be mainly original. Most of the wall along the W arc is narrower than elsewhere and parts are poorly preserved. Stones from this section of wall may have been used in the nearby field walls. Rubble is piled against the inner wall-face at E. According to local information, there is a souterrain (KE108-024001-) in the cashel. The cashel is known locally as both 'Cathair Bhán' and 'the round field'. In the 1930s Capt. D. B. O'Connell recorded that the 'liss', called Caher Ván, had two stone fences and is the 'chief fairy fort in the parish' (KAS).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 30 May 2011