Fairy forts

20silkcut

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

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

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

JohnBoy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bizzum wrote: »

Eddie Lenihan.

The very man himself [Embedded Image Removed]

pakalasa

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

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

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

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

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

Beware of them fairies;)

STIG83

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

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

Embojitsu

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

Big_Evil wrote: »

but always wonder how it got there

id be 99% sure its was the ice age

Embojitsu

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

west boy

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

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

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

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

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.

Bizzum

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

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

Did he hurl for Cloyne!:D

milehip1

Embojitsu wrote: »

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.

Sounds sinister care to expand? like what exactly came to pass?


have fort on our land, really dont consider it to be a fairy fort, more like a neolithic mound,never the less still wouldn't touch it,
stories about an uncle cutting a tree down and having bad luck befall him.

jeff greene

milehip1 wrote: »

have fort on our land, really dont consider it to be a fairy fort, more like a neolithic mound,never the less still wouldn't touch it,
stories about an uncle cutting a tree down and having bad luck befall him.

Literally. The tree fell on him, cause something like him get sick years later to totally irrelevant.

We all heard those stories as children but then we grew up, well!:cool::cool:

CarrickMcJoe

Farmer beside us decided to remove a fairy fort on his land. Diggers moved in and started work and the following weekend the mans only son was knocked down and killed.

Needless to say the diggers were moved off the land and the fort is still there.

True story.

jeff greene

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Farmer beside us decided to remove a fairy fort on his land. Diggers moved in and started work and the following weekend the mans only son was knocked down and killed.

Needless to say the diggers were moved off the land and the fort is still there.

True story.

I don't see the connection.

Must have been a big fort if its still there after a weeks digger work:pac:

Darlughda

Depends on the fort and where it is. Thing is more arrogant you are about it the more injuries you will suffer.....according to folklore.

I have heard of cases of seriously bizarre tragedies occuring upon people who messed with ancient sites.

Why not get some kind of study done that will determine the age of said site or tree/fort? Maybe there is a correalation between the age of the latter with the severity of punishment for disturbing said site........

Birdnuts

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Farmer beside us decided to remove a fairy fort on his land. Diggers moved in and started work and the following weekend the mans only son was knocked down and killed.

Needless to say the diggers were moved off the land and the fort is still there.

True story.

Reminds me of the brother of one of my mothers best friends near Blarney in Cork. Deceided to vandelise a fort on his land and dimissed warnings from neighbours about potential consequences. Tragically his only son was diagnosed with MS within the year while one of his young daughters was seriously injured(lost 2 fingers) in a farm accident a month later:(. He also got done by the authorities over his actions.

jeff greene

Darlughda wrote: »

I have heard of cases of seriously bizarre tragedies occuring upon people who messed with ancient sites.

Why not get some kind of study done that will determine the age of said site or tree/fort? Maybe there is a correalation between the age of the latter with the severity of punishment for disturbing said site........

Details, every one is very vague with these bizarre happenings?

Oh, are we taking these as fact now? Doing studies on the age on the site, firstly prove there is a connection at all.

jeff greene

Birdnuts wrote: »

Reminds me of the brother of one of my mothers best friends near Blarney in Cork. Deceided to vandelise a fort on his land and dimissed warnings from neighbours about potential consequences. Tragically his only son was diagnosed with MS within the year while one of his young daughters was seriously injured(lost 2 fingers) in a farm accident a month later:(. He also got done by the authorities over his actions.

Total BS and you know it. MS because a stupid fort as messed with. How did the other lose two fingers, no other logical reason for it?

emo72

hey lads, what exactly is a fairy fort?

Darlughda

jeff greene wrote: »

Details, every one is very vague with these bizarre happenings?

Oh, are we taking these as fact now? Doing studies on the age on the site, firstly prove there is a connection at all.

Oh golly. YOU are a prime candidate. Good luck with bulldozing down that weird looking hawthorn three, or getting in the JCBs for the auld rocks.

You sound agitated. Thing is with folklore and tradition, there is no fact, yes studies that we are able to enjoy in this day and age may show the longevity of a site, but only fools rush in...

jeff greene

Darlughda wrote: »

Oh golly. YOU are a prime candidate. Good luck with bulldozing down that weird looking hawthorn three, or getting in the JCBs for the auld rocks.

You sound agitated. Thing is with folklore and tradition, there is no fact, yes studies that we are able to enjoy in this day and age may show the longevity of a site, but only fools rush in...

Thanks, I guess. Not agitated, perfectly calm, I not reciting wild fiction at all. I never said to knock anything, I want some proof to these wild tales that my children will be harmed if a hawthorn is knocked

Birdnuts

jeff greene wrote: »

Total BS and you know it. MS because a stupid fort as messed with. How did the other lose two fingers, no other logical reason for it?

Whats with the snotty attitude?? - your attitude to such things is revealing when you use the phrase "stupid fort". What were talking about is a protected structure and part of the countries ancient heritage that deserves respect and is protected under the law. I have famine graves in a mound on my land in Mayo - do you suggest I should just plough them up?? - most resonable people would view that as the actions of a scumbag that deserves what comes his way:mad:

Darlughda

jeff greene wrote: »

Thanks, I guess. Not agitated, perfectly calm, I not reciting wild fiction at all. I never said to knock anything, I want some proof to these wild tales that my children will be harmed if a hawthorn is knocked

Ok, you seem a decent sort, so I will just tell you (and the rest of boards?) some of the stories I have heard outwith the recollections of ancient folklore: maybe its modern folklore, and don't ask me for proof, because I don't have, these are just stories that I have heard. So, take them as such, with a pinch of salt if you prefer, nonetheless, I actually know these tragedies took place.

Dingle, Kerry- Major faery fort site disturbed by local developer.

New born baby in stroller suddenly moves away from parent without explanation away to result in child's death.

Older child dies same week by drowning

Worker on land covered with scratches and sores before even approaching site.

Thats only one place in Dingle, which has a different vibe all of its own.
I do think that a solitary tree, bush, rock, fort or some evidence of tradition has benefit to the land that surrounds it.
It would be foolish to rid your site of this in the idea of modernity and progress, and I suspect many of the older folktales were warning about this.

jeff greene

Birdnuts wrote: »

Whats with the snotty attitude?? - your attitude to such things is revealing when you use the phrase "stupid fort". What were talking about is a protected structure and part of the countries ancient heritage that deserves respect and is protected under the law. I have famine graves in a mound on my land in Mayo - do you suggest I should just plough them up?? - most resonable people would view that as the actions of a scumbag that deserves what comes his way:mad:

My attitude is equal to you saying someone got MS from a fort, I have a friend with MS and he is a townie, has no connection with any fort. Interesting!

Again, never said to do anything to anything. I love the response when anyone asks fair questions about these subjects.

Birdnuts

jeff greene wrote: »

Interesting!

.

More like irrelevant - since were talking about bad kharma/folklore/ancient heritage/wisdom etc. and not what causes MS in the wider population

jeff greene

Birdnuts wrote: »

Not really - since were talking about bad kharma/folklore/ancient heritage/wisdom etc. and not what causes MS in the wider population

Excellent point well made.
Good Night!

20silkcut

As the OP of this thread I will give the facts of what happened in the years after the fort was removed from our land. I come from a family where such superstition would never be entertained and of similar scepticusm to jeff green above, and my family did not protest it's demolition or lament it's destruction.
Anyway these are the facts as I know them.


Fort was bulldozed in c 1971
Engineer died 2 months later ( but he was old anyway I am told)
There was a death in every house within a mile of the fort for every one of the ten years following it's destruction including my grandfather ( maybe that's a normal death rate all were a good enough age for that period)
our own farm went bust in the mid 1980's (a lot of farms went under in Ireland in the same period however all the neighbouring farms here are of similar size and quality and they all prospered)

there has been about 4 or 5 people killed over the years on that stretch of road.

All these occurrences could be explained away as normal happenings but equally it cannot be said for definite that the removal of the fort had no negative Impact.
All I can say as a non-superstitious sceptic ,and knowing what I know now and looking out at a derelict farmyard, if I was around in 1971, I would have chained myself to them bull dozers.

pakalasa

I remember my father saying that a lot of this 'stuff' goes back to The War Of Indepence. The Irish Volunteers would be moving guns etc late at night, so any mention of strange sounds by neighbours would be explained away by the antics of the fairies.:D

reilig

west boy wrote: »

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.

I don't honestly know. I wasn't being critical of you
In Reps, they want you to leave the hedgerow of the fort alone and not change it in any way. They also want you to let the grass and flora grow uninterfered with inside it. Ideally they want you to put a fence around the fort so that cattle cannot access it at all.

Back in the day, we used to plough the inside of our fort too and grew cabbage plants inside it for sale.