Ring forts in North Tipperary

The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary – North Tipperary; lists over 800 ring fort sites. ring forts are usually roughly circular areas enclosed by an earthen bank and fosse. Most forts have a single bank but there are examples of two or rarer three bank (trivallate) forts. Generally dated to between 600AD to 1000 AD there are some earlier examples. The majority of Tipperary ring forts are located on sloping ground between 200-500 feet in altitude.

Ring forts are one of our most common monuments and probably survived so well due to a belief that they were the home of fairies and interfering with them would bring bad luck.

This story from the Schools folklore collection is just one of many such stories available at https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes