2006:342 - Gooldshill, Cork

An unploughed roughly circular area, 20m in diameter, was identified as a ‘fairy fort’ during construction of an industrial park to the south-west of Mallow. The site is not an RMP nor is there any evidence for a structure or feature at this site on the OS maps. On 28 June 2006 two perpendicular test-trenches were excavated across the ‘fairy fort’. The stratigraphy consisted of topsoil, 0.05–0.15m deep, over orange/brown, stony subsoil. A low bank (max. width 2.5m, max. height 0.3m) was recorded at the southern and northern limits of the possible site. In October 2006 the topsoil was stripped from the entire ‘fairy fort’ area. The partial remains of three stone-filled drains were recorded. The bank recorded on the south of the ‘site’ did not continue. The remains of a bank were recorded in the north-west of the area. It was not clear whether this was an old field boundary, a bank associated with former tree planting or another man-made feature.