Ballyboe Fort

A site named 'Ballyboe Fort' on the OS 6-inch map appears to have been misread as 'Ballyboe Altar' and consequently described as a 'prehistoric chamber tomb' (Killanin and Duignan 1962; 1967). It is a ringfort (Lacy 1983). Killanin and Duignan 1962, 373; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 374; Lacy 1983, 193, no. 1147; SMR 1987, 27:30; RMP 1995, 27:30. 'Ballyboe Fort' marked on the OS 6-inch maps now consists of a flat-topped platform c. 40m N-S and 32m E-W. The E side, however, has been partially levelled. The platform is from 1m to 2.5m above the surrounding land. Very vague traces of a perimeter bank are visible in some places. A field boundary crosses the site N-S on the E side. The site is located on a low E-W ridge in undulating ·pasture land.

Ballyboe Fort, Tirhomin is an early-medieval ringfort, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. It was previously misidentified as a prehistoric chamber tomb, but its true nature as a fairy fort is reflected in local tradition and later archaeological recognition.