What is recorded here

Fairy forts hide inside ordinary fields, waiting for patience rather than showing off. In Ballinlough, an oval area thirty-four metres across still carries the ghost of a five-metre-wide bank, one metre high, with a possible eastern gap wide enough for a person, a cart or a small procession. The earth has softened the edges, but the shape remains a claim: this was not empty ground, and someone learned its boundaries before forgetting the names of the people who first walked them.

Not visible at ground level. Stout (1984) describes the site as an oval shaped area (diam 34m) enclosed by an earthen bank (Wth 5m; H 1m) with possible entrance gap (Wth 4.5m) at E. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.