Tales from Irish folklore: What are fairy forts?
Eva Osborne
Irish folklore, like the island itself, is littered with tales of earth mounds known as fairy forts.
The ancient ringforts date back to the Iron Age and have long been entwined with tales of the Aos Sí—supernatural beings from Irish mythology often equated with fairies.
Like many of Ireland's mythological creatures, including the banshee (meaning 'woman of the fairy mound' or 'fairy woman'), many stories of fairy forts have been passed down through generations of Irish people.
Many of these stories warn against the disturbing of fairy forts, as they are believed to be portals to the otherworld.
According to Wilderness Ireland's Dawn Rainbolt, it has long been speculated that messing with fairies or their forts can bring bad luck.
"Pre-Christian monuments are said to have been built by fairy folk, bad luck and illness as a result of offending the fairies and people who disappear have been kidnapped by the little people," she said.
"Even natural (and supernatural) phenomena can be explained by fairies. Generally, it’s best to avoid angering the fairies because who knows what they might do?"
On Ireland's fairy forts, Rainbolt said entrances to the otherworld are everywhere and can exist in caves, tombs, barrows, forts, and even tree hollows and roots.
Photo: Wilderness Ireland
"Fairy forts are essentially the remains of Iron Age/early medieval ring forts, of which thousands remain in Ireland today.
"Farmers and landowners often plough and mow around them to avoid incurring the wrath of the little people. They also avoid disturbing Neolithic tombs, stone circles, and standing stones, all thought to be connected to the fairy world.
"In fact, in 1999, a new motorway was re-routed to save a fairy tree. Fear of fairy retribution has caused many major projects to topple, protecting these heritage sites and monuments associated with the wee folk.
"Folklore has played a more significant role in protecting these monuments and trees than the official government institutions."
Interactions with the fairies
Rainbolt said there are countless stories of humans seeing fairies, interacting with them, or even visiting the fairy world themselves.
"In many tales, the fairies live much the same way as the Irish; they farm, work, and party.
"According to Irish folklore and oral tradition, humans and fairies brushed shoulders on a frequent basis – the trick was to get along with them and not do anything that drew their attention.
"Specific methods were employed to keep the fairies at bay; garlands of marigolds and primroses at your door, the wood of the ash, rowan and blackthorn or a bag of clover around your neck were all means of self protection from fairies."
Photo: Wilderness Ireland
Another way was to turn your coat inside out when passing a fairy, and they are said to not be fond of iron, salt, or bread either.
"There are accounts of humans being stolen away by the little people, either in mind or body or both. In versions of the tale, their loved ones attempt to rescue them," Rainbolt said.
"Usually, this is with the help of a wise woman with experience of the fairy world, following precise, and sometimes bizarre, instructions. If they are followed exactly, a loved one is returned, and if not, they live on in the fairy world."
Fairy fort conservation
In 2022, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD asked the then Minister for Heritage, Malcolm Noonan, about his plans to safeguard, protect, and conserve ancient raths, also known as ringforts or fairy forts.
His concerns were exasperated following the 2022 decision not to designate raths as areas for nature under the iteration of the Common Agricultural Policy and the potential impact this could have on discouraging farmers from protecting raths on their land.
Ó Snodaigh highlighted that half of the 60,000 raths had already been wiped out in recent decades.
The Sinn Féin politician was not the only one in the political sphere to bring up fairy forts, or the potential consequences of disturbing them.
A few years ago, Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae insisted a dip in a Kerry road which had been repaired before mysteriously reappearing is due to the presence of fairy forts.
According to a 2017 piece from The Irish Times, Healy-Rae said: “There are numerous fairy forts in that area.
I know that they are linked. Anyone that tampered with them back over the years paid a high price and had bad luck.
When asked if he believed in fairies, the TD said the local belief – which he shared – was that “there was something in these places you shouldn’t touch”.
These were “sacred places” and fairies were believed to inhabit them, he said.
National Folklore Collection
The Dúchas project, coordinated by University College Dublin (UCD), digitalises the National Folklore Collection and enables access to material from the collection on a public website.
Featured throughout this collection are numerous tales of fairies and fairy forts.
In one excerpt, there is a story of a fort in a field in Crowmartin, Co Louth, with the writer Jane Clarke stating there is "a lot of trees all round it and when the people used to be out at night looking at the sheep that were in the field, they used to see a light in the centre of; the people could find no entrance to it; and there is a noise heard often in it.
"There is another fort in McKeever's field in Crowmartin, Co Louth, in which there is said to be fairies. This fort is called Cromartin mount, this mount is built with stones and there is an entrance to it mad with stones, when you go up on the top of it you can see the mount of Aclint.
"People say that Jane Martin from Greatwood saw a lot of little men making boots and there is a light often seen beside the mount and the top of it is covered with bushes.
"There is a graveyard beside the mount of Aclint in which the giants of long ago were buried and it is said that there are fairies in the mount and the people say that in the summer the fairies come out of the mount and play music; the people say that on dark nights there is a light on it. The mount is now covered with bushes."
