School: Clandouglas, Lic Snámha (roll number 10380)

Location:
Clondouglas, Co. Kerry
Teacher:
Bean Uí Sheanacháin
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0412, Page 084

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0412, Page 084

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  1. XML School: Clandouglas, Lic Snámha
  2. XML Page 084
  3. XML “Fairy Forts”

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  1. Liosanna (known locally as forts) are a very common feature of this school district. Every townland has at least three or four. They are all circular in shape. The surrounding fence in every case is of earth and from six to eight feet in height. Very often this fence is surrounded again by a shallow trench, while the fence itself is often overgrown with bushes, generally whitethorn. In some cases however the rampart is always quite bare. Very rarely is any tilling done within these forts, and rarer still are instances of any attempt to level them. The people here firmly believe that bad luck is sure to follow any such interference. Only one man in this locality ever defied this superstition. Before he had got very far with his work however, his cattle and horses began to die one by one. That year he lost his entire stock, so he gave up the attempt, fully convinced that his bad luck was entirely due to his interference with the old fort. In the townland of Glenballyma Kilflynn Co. Kerry an underground chamber has recently been discovered, the floor of which is some eight or nine feet under the surface leading into a sort of corridor. The entrance hole is near the centre of the fort. The chamber itself is a rectangular compartment about ten feet long, four feet wide, and four feet high. The walls are
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    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. place-space-environment
      1. legendary and spiritual places (~158)
        1. fairy forts (~5,616)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Kitty Cronin
    Gender
    Female
    Age
    15