Rathnacross Fairy Fort
Dublin Core
Title
Rathnacross Fairy Fort
Subject
Lough Derg--Folklore--Fairy Fort--Rathnacross
Description
"There is a circular fence of earth on top of a hill in the school district. It is known as Rathnacross and is situated in the townland of Drumawark.
There is a hole in the middle of it where a Celtic cross stood but it is broken now and the remains of it are in Carne graveyard. The cross was a land-mark on the way to Lough Derg and it was also a mark of the boundary of the Terman lands which once belonged to the monks who lived on the island of Lough Day.
Some men have dug up some clay in the centre of the circle and have found blackened flag stones where beacon fires had been lit. These fires were also used as a land mark.
All the people travelled on foot to Lough Derg at that time and used an old road which passes Rathnacross.
The fairy-people were supposed to live in this rath and it was said that if a person spoke to them he would be taken away on a white horse and never be let down off him."
There is a hole in the middle of it where a Celtic cross stood but it is broken now and the remains of it are in Carne graveyard. The cross was a land-mark on the way to Lough Derg and it was also a mark of the boundary of the Terman lands which once belonged to the monks who lived on the island of Lough Day.
Some men have dug up some clay in the centre of the circle and have found blackened flag stones where beacon fires had been lit. These fires were also used as a land mark.
All the people travelled on foot to Lough Derg at that time and used an old road which passes Rathnacross.
The fairy-people were supposed to live in this rath and it was said that if a person spoke to them he would be taken away on a white horse and never be let down off him."
Creator
Ernest Crawford
Source
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1030, Page 341
Publisher
National Folklore Collection, UCD
Date
1937-39
Contributor
duchas.ie, hosting and crowd-sourced transcription
Rights
CC BY-NC 4.0 International License
Format
Transcribed text and digitised manuscript
Language
English
Type
Oral history, folklore
Oral History
Identifier
DD_0006
Coverage
54.581320,-7.814409
References
https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428265/4389705/4477938
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Ernest Crawford
Interviewee
Mrs B. Crawford
Location
Cullion, County Donegal
Files
Citation
Ernest Crawford, “Rathnacross Fairy Fort,” Digital Derg: A Deep Map, accessed April 27, 2024, https://digitalderg.eu/items/show/6.