Fairy fort
Fairy forts are the remains of lios (ringforts), hillforts or other circular dwellings in Ireland. From possibly late Iron Age to early Christian times, occupants built circular structures with earth banks or ditches. These were sometimes topped with wooden palisades, and wooden framed buildings. As the dwellings were not durable, in many cases only vague circular marks remain in the landscape. Raths and lios are found in all parts of Ireland.
Tradition claimed that ringforts were “fairy forts” imbued with Druids’ magic and believers in the fairies did not alter them. The early pre-Celtic inhabitants of Ireland (known as the Tuatha Dé Danann and Fir Bolg) came to be seen as mythical and were associated with stories of fairies, also known as the “Good People“.
Fairy forts were seen as entrances to their world. Even cutting brush, especially the sceach or whitethorn, on fairy forts was reputed to be the an unlucky act. Other traditions hold that a Leprechaun may allegedly know of hidden gold in a Fairy fort.
In literature, British author Rudyard Kipling made allusions to the process by which such legends grow in his 1906 novel, Puck of Pook’s Hill.
Another name for fairy forts is raths from the Irish referring to an earthen mound
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