Irish Fairy Forts

Across the green countryside of Ireland there are an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 circular earthworks known as fairy forts, ringforts, raths, or lios. To the archaeologist they are the remains of fortified farmsteads, mostly dating from the Iron Age to the early medieval period, between roughly 500 BCE and 1000 CE. To the folklorist and to many of the people who still live among them, they are something more: the homes of the Daoine Sí, the Good Neighbours, the fairy folk of Irish tradition.

This article is part of the Celtic Folklore section, which itself sits within the wider survey of European Folklore. It examines what fairy forts are, the stories told about them, the customs and taboos attached to them, and the way in which these beliefs persist into the present day.

What Is a Fairy Fort?

A typical fairy fort is a circular or roughly oval enclosure, defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches. The largest examples are the cathair or stone forts, but the most common are the smaller rath (an earthen ringfort) and lios (a flat-topped mound with a fosse). They range in size from a few metres across to enclosures large enough to contain several houses.

Although many were originally farmsteads, fairy forts are not the same as the larger hillforts of the early Bronze Age, nor are they the same as the ecclesiastical enclosures of the early Christian period. They are, rather, the middle layer: a landscape of small, defended homesteads scattered across the country, especially in the central and western counties.

The Good Neighbours Within

The idea that these earthworks are not empty — that they are the dwelling-places of a parallel people — is ancient and persistent. The Daoine Sí are, in the oldest Irish tradition, the Tuatha Dé Danann, the divine beings of the Lebor Gabála Érenn who were defeated by the Milesians, the ancestors of the present Irish, and who retreated into the sídhe (the mounds). In time the great gods of the old religion were re-imagined as kings and queens of the fairy host.

Living near a fairy fort means observing certain customs. The banks must not be cut down. The trees that grow in them — often whitethorn, ash, or hazel — must not be felled. Earth must not be taken away. Some wells within or near the fort are believed to be entrances to the otherworld and have healing powers. On certain nights of the year, especially Samhain (the Celtic new year) and May Eve, the fort opens and the Good Neighbours come out to ride.

The Hazards of Disturbing a Fort

A great body of Irish folk narrative is built around what happens when a fairy fort is disturbed. The most common pattern is one of misfortune: a farmer cuts a roadway through a rath and shortly afterwards one of his animals sickens, or a child falls ill, or a series of small disasters unfolds until a wise person diagnoses the cause and a gift or a blessing is made to set things right.

The raths of the Boyne Valley in County Meath, the fairy forts of Kerry, and the lios of Connemara are all associated with stories of curse and redemption. Even in the twenty-first century, road-building projects in Ireland have been re-routed to avoid damaging known fairy forts, and many planning applications carry clauses that permit the landowner to leave the central mound intact.

Offerings and Rites of Reconciliation

When a fort has been disturbed, a number of traditional responses are recorded. A small portion of the disturbed earth, mixed with thatch from a healthy house, may be returned to the fort. A black hen or a sheep may be slaughtered on the bank and the blood allowed to soak into the soil. A clootie (a strip of cloth) may be tied to a tree growing in the fort as a token of a prayer or vow. A pádraigín (a small coin) may be left on a flat stone.

The most celebrated rite is that of leaving the fort a share. Just as the household keeps a place for the banshee or the fairy folk at table, so the farmer is expected to leave a small portion of the harvest in the field nearest the fort. In some districts this is the last sheaf of the corn; in others it is a bowl of milk left overnight on a bank.

The Fairy Fort and the Witch

A second strand of folk belief connects fairy forts to the figure of the solitary witch, the bean feasa or cailleach. Such a woman was believed to draw power from the fort, and she might be seen drawing water from a holy well inside the bank, or chanting at the central tree. The wren hunted on St Stephen’s Day, the piseog (a charm or curse) whispered at the edge of the bank, and the keen raised over a death were all thought to carry extra power when performed at a fairy fort.

The link between fairies and witches was never simple. In some districts the good witch, like the good fairy, could heal and protect, while in others the fairy host was seen as a source of witchcraft. A person who died alone, away from the customary wakes and prayers, was said to be more likely to join the fairy host than to rest in consecrated ground.

Fairy Forts and the Calendar

The most important dates for fairy-fort activity are the turning points of the Celtic year. Samhain (the night of 31 October into 1 November) is the great night, when the host rides out. Beltane (May Eve) is the second, when the bonfires are lit and the cattle are driven between two fires for protection. Midsummer is also a time of activity, and there are local traditions about Lá an Dreoilín (Wren Day, 26 December), when the wren is hunted and its body carried from house to house.

Each of these festivals is part of the wider calendar examined in the Seasonal Festivals section, and each is overlaid with Christian observance: All Souls’ Day on 2 November sits beside Samhain, May Day beside the older Beltane, and Christmas beside the winter solstice.

The Scholar and the Fort

Modern scholars have approached the fairy fort from several directions. The folklorists of the Irish Folklore Commission, founded in 1935, gathered thousands of stories of fairy activity. The Schools’ Collection of the 1930s, in which children were asked to write down what their grandparents told them, is a particularly rich resource. The archaeologist Barry Raftery and others have mapped and excavated a number of forts, while the Heritage Council of Ireland now oversees their protection.

These scholarly activities have not, in most cases, displaced the older beliefs. A site may be both a National Monument and a working holy place, and the work of the archaeologist must sometimes reckon with the strictures of the folk tradition.

Living Forts

There are still fairy forts in Ireland that are visited regularly. The rath of Mullaghmast in County Kildare, the lios of Craglea in County Limerick, the forts of the Aran Islands, and the Grianán of Aileach in County Donegal are all places where the older customs are observed. Tourists may leave coins; pilgrims may leave prayers. The Good Neighbours, if asked, are said to be content.

For the broader pattern of how the Celtic peoples understood the relationship between the living and the dead, see the Celtic Folklore section. For a different kind of sacred earthwork, the dolmen of the British Isles, the standing stones of Brittany, and the barrows of the Slavic lands, see the wider survey of European Folklore. For a fuller account of the earthwork landscapes of the British Isles and how they compare with the barrow-fields of the mythical creatures and beings catalogued elsewhere on this site, see also the dedicated article on the Welsh dragon legend, which takes its rise from another such ancient earthwork, the hill of Dinas Emrys in Gwynedd.

Sources and Further Reading

Macalister, R. A. S. The Archaeology of Ireland. Methuen, 1928.
Herity, Michael, and Breffny, George. Ireland’s Royal Sites: The Archaeology and History of the Royal Places of Ireland. Thames & Hudson, 1999.
Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopaedia of Myth, Legend and Romance. Boydell, 2006.
Kinahan, George Henry. Donegal Folk-Lore. Ballygrafin Publications reprint, 1990.