What is recorded here

Fairy forts are not fairy forts. They are human homes, farm yards and hidden rooms from before written records. People lived there, breathed there, buried or forgot things there. The fairies came later in the stories, filling the vacancy left when the human names were lost.

Situated on a SW-facing slope. This rath, or its neighbour (MO027-087001-) c. 220m to the NW, is probably the enclosure at Upper Box depicted on McCrea’s Map of County Monaghan (1793). It is an overgrown circular area (diam. 28m N-S) that slopes down to the S (H 2.4m) defined by an overgrown earthen bank (Wth of base 4.8-6.2m; int. H 0.6m at S to 1.2m at N (upslope); ext. H 1.2m at N to 2.1m at S), which is incorporated into a field bank with an outer drain (Wth of top 3.4m; ext. D 0.8m) NNW-NNE. There is no visible fosse but the entrance (Wth of base1.4m) is at SSE, the lowest point of the interior, and the interior is bisected by a NE-SW field wall. There is a local report of a large lintelled underground passage in this rath (SMR file) but the only possible evidence of this is a hollow (dims 4.6m x 4.6m; D 1m) inside the perimeter at NW, and the report is probably confusing this rath with (MO027-087001-). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Monaghan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 31 January 2018

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