Fairy Forts in Ireland

 Well, I just found this out and it is fascinating...

There are these things called Fairy Forts in Ireland. They were mainly built from 700 AD to 1100 and were used until about 1200 AD. They are interesting as smaller round fortifications. Apparently there were over 200 "Kingdoms" in Ireland at the time, and most raised cattle.

Many are still around because the abandoned ones were almost immediately were associated with terrible consequences if they were disturbed. The fairies would claim their revenge. (This was before Catholicism cam to Ireland).

Since 1990 they have been protected, but still. That is 700 years and thousands are still all over Ireland.

What happened is that cattle were very valuable, and so there was a lot of theft (from what Americans would call Rustlers). So the locals built these small round "forts" to bring the cattle in at night and it was easier to protect them.

Why did they fall into disuse? Well, after the Vikings came, cattle raising became less important. The Vikings found grain easier to transport and trade, so the Irish, under Viking rule, moved to growing grains, not keeping cattle.

More Info - Atlas Obscura