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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Clonacullion

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Lismoyle, the bald rath, occupies the eastern summit of a drumlin ridge in Clonacullion, preserving a subcircular grass arena forty-one metres wide. Its earthen scarp remains visible beneath modern field banks and hedges, marking a boundary between human occupation and forgotten time. Local tradition claims flat stones once indicated old graves within the ring, suggesting the fort served both living residents and dead ancestors. The missing entrance and bare name point to a place where memory has been stripped away, leaving only shape and silence behind.
Located on the most easterly of three summits of an E-W drumlin ridge, it is known locally as Lismoyle – lios maol, the bald or bare rath. It is a subcircular grass-covered area (dims 47.5m E-W; 41m N-S) defined by a scarp (at SW: Wth 2.4m; H 0.8m) that is incorporated into a field bank with a hedge and outer drain NW-ESE. The original entrance is not identified. According to local tradition old graves marked by flat stones were present (IFC Schools' MSS (940) 294-5), for which see this web-page accessed on 29/05/2018: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes 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: 19 June 2018

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What survives
Recorded monument

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