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Tullyskeherny : Stone Fort

CountyLeitrim
Grid RefG 896 368
GPSG 89634 36764 (8m)
Longitude8° 9' 32.98" W
Latitude54° 16' 46.18" N
Nearest TownManorhamilton (2.9 Km)
OS Sheets16, 26
UTM zone29U
UTM x554746.1751437
UTM y6014945.2640536
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Visit Notes

Sunday, 9th May 2004

A short walk and visible from Tullyskeherny (County Leitrim), sitting on the top of a rise, is this small cashel about 30m in diameter. The walls now reach no more than just over 1m tall and were never much more than 1.5m thick. This doesn't seem to offer much protection to me, as wall this narrow could never have been very high. Perhaps its remote location was enough to warrant such a flimsy feeling structure. Perhaps it wasn't defensive at all.

The west side gains some extra protection because it is right on the edge of a small cliff with a 5m drop, 30m beyond which is another drop of 40m or so. The east approach is very open though.

There is an orthostat-lined entrance facing SW and oddly this is not at a right-angle to the centre of the enclosure. It seems to point at an odd arrangement in the opposite wall where a very regularly shaped stone is set, lintel-like, above a recess. It looks like a fireplace, but with no chimney it wouldn't have done a very good job. Just in front of this is an low oval cairn-type thing which may be a burial.

I was not totally convinced that this was a fort as such, or maybe it was originally, but was later adapted into a ceremonial enclosure. A very interesting site indeed.

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