Fairy forts

20silkcut · 14-06-2011 9:54pm #1

Hi all I am a new user so do not know if such a topic was covered before.
I live on a farm that had a fairy fort removed back in the 1970's to facilitate road widening. I am not a superstitious person by any means and clearly my father and grandfather, who were farming the land at the time, were not too concerned about the superstitions of fairy forts either. However there are many people who would lie down in front of a bull dozer to stop them being removed. And I have heard of a lot of bad luck stories surrounding their destruction. In the case of the one removed off our land the subsequent period did bring misfortune which could of course be just coincidental.

Just wondering is there any other stories from around the country ?

Big_Evil · 14-06-2011 10:20pm

There was a great big rock that was in one of our fields that really stood out - our land is by no means rocky - right in the Golden Vale as it happens, but anyway, there is this rock that looks like it was randomly dumped there. My grandfather always said that any interference of the rock would turn the faires against us, so the rock remained. About 15 years ago, when clearing the drains around it, my father agonised for a week as to whether or not to have the rock removed while the track machine was there. He finally took the plunge. Now, the rock looked big above the ground, however, it was 2 and a half times bigger under the ground - it was feckin' huge ! Managed to bury it, but always wonder how it got there

Birdnuts · 14-06-2011 10:31pm

All I know is that since they drove that motorway through the Tara landscape everything in this country has gone to sh*te:(

JohnBoy · 15-06-2011 9:59am

Ahh for f*cks sake!

this country was on a one way trip to meltdown long before they brought in the bulldozers in tara

Tora Bora · 15-06-2011 10:20am

Birdnuts wrote: »

All I know is that since they drove that motorway through the Tara landscape everything in this country has gone to sh*te:(

Birdnuts, have you seen on another thread, where some so called farmers, are actually pulling ragwort in the fields. No thought whatsoever for the poor ladybirds and other insects which live and shelter on the ragwort. I tell you, it's no woander at all that the thing is going pear shaped.

Birdnuts · 15-06-2011 11:11am

Tora Bora wrote: »

Birdnuts, have you seen on another thread, where some so called farmers, are actually pulling ragwort in the fields. No thought whatsoever for the poor ladybirds and other insects which live and shelter on the ragwort. I tell you, it's no woander at all that the thing is going pear shaped.

Hilarious - maybe you should give up the farming and go on the comedy circut:rolleyes:

5live · 15-06-2011 11:37am

During WW2 the council dug up a ring fort on our farm to get rock for road building. The old lad reckoned any bad luck was due to the people who forced it rather than the owner.

They were only holding pens for livestock at night iirc to protect from bear and wolves and stealing from other farmers so if there are any fairys there, they were only squatting and didnt have title to the lands;)

Birdnuts · 15-06-2011 11:50am

5live wrote: »

During WW2 the council dug up a ring fort on our farm to get rock for road building. The old lad reckoned any bad luck was due to the people who forced it rather than the owner.

They were only holding pens for livestock at night iirc to protect from bear and wolves and stealing from other farmers so if there are any fairys there, they were only squatting and didnt have title to the lands;)

That was the era before preservation orders etc. which was a grim time when we lost much of our archaelogical heritage. Thankfully we are in more enlightened times, though we still lose close to 1% of such artifacts every year due to in many cases sheer vandelism:(

theaceofspies · 15-06-2011 11:52am

Leaving aside the fairies these forts are one of the few visual reminders of our ancient past and heritage. There are many things that we could learn from our forefathers in how to live hand in hand with nature; just read a history book from the library. In the relentless pursuit of so-called 'progress' many of these have disappeared forever.
I wouldn't touch them and I have some on my land.

vcsggl · 15-06-2011 2:46pm

Never mind the forts - what about lone bushes? There were several on my grandparents' place - they would never touch them at all even though they were right in the middle of good fields. A couple have gone but there's still a couple more - the neighbour who takes the land wouldn't touch them at all!

In similar vein he's always a bit worried when I go out shooting in case I shoot a hare - that would bring 20 years of bad luck to the land apparently!

George

vcsggl · 15-06-2011 2:52pm

theaceofspies wrote: »

Leaving aside the fairies these forts are one of the few visual reminders of our ancient past and heritage. There are many things that we could learn from our forefathers in how to live hand in hand with nature; just read a history book from the library. In the relentless pursuit of so-called 'progress' many of these have disappeared forever.
I wouldn't touch them and I have some on my land.

There's a man not too far away from my place that told me some years ago with great glee that he had a lovely ready-made site for his new bungalow. It was a great flat topped mound overlooking the river and had a great view. He said it was an ancient fort so just a couple of hours with a JCB gave him a lovely flat level site on the top of it and that's where the bungalow now sits. It is indeed a lovely spot but the ancient site and all that it might have revealed has gone forever.

George

JohnBoy · 15-06-2011 2:55pm

theaceofspies wrote: »

Leaving aside the fairies these forts are one of the few visual reminders of our ancient past and heritage. There are many things that we could learn from our forefathers in how to live hand in hand with nature; just read a history book from the library. In the relentless pursuit of so-called 'progress' many of these have disappeared forever.
I wouldn't touch them and I have some on my land.

Agree with that completely. we have little regard for our built heritage/archaeology in this country.

sparks24 · 15-06-2011 3:16pm

Big_Evil wrote: »

There was a great big rock that was in one of our fields that really stood out - our land is by no means rocky - right in the Golden Vale as it happens, but anyway, there is this rock that looks like it was randomly dumped there. My grandfather always said that any interference of the rock would turn the faires against us, so the rock remained. About 15 years ago, when clearing the drains around it, my father agonised for a week as to whether or not to have the rock removed while the track machine was there. He finally took the plunge. Now, the rock looked big above the ground, however, it was 2 and a half times bigger under the ground - it was feckin' huge ! Managed to bury it, but always wonder how it got there

glaciers would of dragged massive rocks around the place during the ice age so that might be a fair bet against the faries

there's a story teller fella from clare eddy something sorry cant remember hes name but he spent the day telling us storys about faries and the like when we were in school. interesting stuff about the forts too between limerick and clare there was one and when they were building the motorway to shannon they came across one and a lot of stuff happened apparently

he has a good few books out about it as far as i know about stories all over ireland he travelles everywhere telling he's one's and collects more from all over. strange looking man with a massive head of hair and a beard to match smokes a pipe and all that you know the type

Mad as a brush

Bizzum · 15-06-2011 3:23pm

sparks24 wrote: »

glaciers would of dragged massive rocks around the place during the ice age so that might be a fair bet against the faries

there's a story teller fella from clare eddy something sorry cant remember hes name but he spent the day telling us storys about faries and the like when we were in school. interesting stuff about the forts too between limerick and clare there was one and when they were building the motorway to shannon they came across one and a lot of stuff happened apparently

he has a good few books out about it as far as i know about stories all over ireland he travelles everywhere telling he's one's and collects more from all over. strange looking man with a massive head of hair and a beard to match smokes a pipe and all that you know the type

Mad as a brush

Eddie Lenihan.

Atilathehun · 15-06-2011 3:31pm

vcsggl wrote: »

Never mind the forts - what about lone bushes? There were several on my grandparents' place - they would never touch them at all even though they were right in the middle of good fields. A couple have gone but there's still a couple more - the neighbour who takes the land wouldn't touch them at all!

In similar vein he's always a bit worried when I go out shooting in case I shoot a hare - that would bring 20 years of bad luck to the land apparently!

George

Did a fair bit of land clearing myself this year. 8 single whitethorns, scattered around a 5 acre field, here and there. Didn't and wouldn't touch them;) I'll have enough grass after without going mad and getting rid of everything. Didn't spare the briars and furze though:P

Atilathehun · 15-06-2011 3:33pm

Bizzum wrote: »

Eddie Lenihan.

The very man himself [Embedded Image Removed]

pakalasa · 15-06-2011 9:45pm

We have a fairyfort on our land. When we were young, my Grandmother always warned us to keep away from it. My father wouldn't touch it either.
We were hurling in the field one day and someone hit the sloithar into the briars on the fort. My younger brother wouldnt look for it, so myself and the two cousins cut our way into the briars to get the ball. Within about two weeks, the 3 of us had blackeyes. Strange, dont you think?:rolleyes:

Bizzum · 15-06-2011 10:42pm

pakalasa wrote: »

We have a fairyfort on our land. When we were young, my Grandmother always warned us to keep away from it. My father wouldn't touch it either.
We were hurling in the field one day and someone hit the sloithar into the briars on the fort. My younger brother wouldnt look for it, so myself and the two cousins cut our way into the briars to get the ball. Within about two weeks, the 3 of us had blackeyes. Strange, dont you think?:rolleyes:

Not a bit strange. Sure that was back when hurling helmets weren't compulsory!:D

theroad · 16-06-2011 12:15am

sparks24 wrote: »

there's a story teller fella from clare eddy something sorry cant remember hes name but he spent the day telling us storys about faries and the like when we were in school. interesting stuff about the forts too between limerick and clare there was one and when they were building the motorway to shannon they came across one and a lot of stuff happened apparently

The fairy tree is still there, the one they diverted the motorway around because no one would knock it down, it's just at the Clare Inn exit, sitting all on its own in an island between two roads. Someone had a go at it a few years back with a chainsaw but it seems to be doing fine now.

polod · 17-06-2011 12:26pm

we have a fairy / ring fort on our land to...wouldn't touch it for any thing now doe......one time when i was topping beside it at about half 11 at night was just reversing into a corner beside it for a bit i missed and soon as i did all my front and rear plough lamps went out....that finished me with the topping that day

djmc · 17-06-2011 6:36pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pl8M0mYrc0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecsIKLmNixM&feature=related

Beware of them fairies;)

STIG83 · 17-06-2011 7:24pm

I have heard of one story of a fairy ring been dug up before, this happened many years ago, the guy on the digger who dug up the fairy ring never worked a day after it, think his health went very bad after it.
Makes you think though.

sh1tstirrer · 17-06-2011 8:40pm

Does anyone know of the townland in Cork where the Queen of the fairies lived?

Embojitsu · 11-07-2011 1:51pm

I'm glad this topic came up; I'm a highly-educated person, am very rational and don't jump to many conclusions. But I have heard far too many stories about the destruction of fairy forts and the damage that ensued after to ever want to go near one or disrupt it. A big reason behind this is that I respect the culture of my country; not the vulgar, acquisitive, consumerist new culture, but the myth and folklore of Ireland. I live in a town where a woman put to death issued a curse on the town, if the place from which she was hanged was ever disturbed. What she promised would happen, happened. And regardless of houses being repossessed, marriages breaking down and all the other fallouts of the recession, it never happened like that since.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4 · 11-07-2011 4:47pm

Big_Evil wrote: »

but always wonder how it got there

id be 99% sure its was the ice age

Embojitsu · 12-07-2011 5:42pm

http://www.mulley.net/2010/02/28/eddie-lenihan-documentary-on-tg4/ Just if anyone's interested in the wonderful Eddie Lenihan.

west boy · 12-07-2011 6:47pm

i have 2 forts on the land and i regularly cut the hedges and top the fort inside it for years and never had a problem. there is no point in wasting good grazing ground. They are also handy holding pens for calving cows.;)

reilig · 12-07-2011 9:31pm

west boy wrote: »

i have 2 forts on the land and i regularly cut the hedges and top the fort inside it for years and never had a problem. there is no point in wasting good grazing ground. They are also handy holding pens for calving cows.;)

If you have your forts as a measure in REPS 4 then you could be fined. You are not supposed to cut the hedges or top inside them under this measure.

west boy · 12-07-2011 10:11pm

not in reps.

whats the point in wasting good ground. as long as the basic mound is still undisturbed i dont see a problem. Any way there used be a vegetable garden in them during the world wars and the emergency according to my late grandfather

Birdnuts · 12-07-2011 10:44pm

west boy wrote: »

not in reps. whats the point in wasting good ground. as long as the basic mound is still undisturbed i dont see a problem. Any way there used be a vegetable garden in them during the world wars and the emergency according to my late grandfather

Your mound must be one of the biggest in the country to justify that kind of approach to our ancient heritage - your potentially skating on very thin ice using heavy machinery on such features too. A farmer near here got done for damaging a national moment in this way a few years back

west boy · 12-07-2011 10:57pm

how is maintaining the hedges and condition of the forts damaging them. i have seen others around this area which have cattle wandering through them at what ever point they want which has caused deep ruts in the banks. both forts are around 70 feet in diameter and rise about 2-3 feet above the surrounding field. with proper hedge cutting they look better than an over run heap of bushes with no purpose.

Fairy forts

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