What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Clonavogy stands on a drumlin summit in County Monaghan, mapped as a circular embanked enclosure since 1793. Its grass-covered ring measures forty-four metres across, bounded by an overgrown earthen bank and outer fosse that still trace a deliberate boundary. The entrance faces east-southeast, where a causeway once crossed the ditch. People may have lived, herded or hidden there before the bank softened into legend.

Situated at the summit of a drumlin. This rath is depicted on McCrea’s map of Co. Monaghan (1793). It is represented as a circular embanked enclosure described as a ‘fort’ in gothic lettering on the 1834 edition of the OS 6-inch map, and as a sub-circular or D-shaped feature on the 1907 edition. This is a circular or subrectangular grass-covered area (dims 44m NE-SW; 37.5m NNW-SSE) that slopes down to the SE (H c. 2m) defined by an overgrown earthen bank NW-N (Wth of base 10m; int. H 2m; ext. H 4m) that is reduced to an internal lip (H 0.5m) and external scarp (Wth 4m; H 4m) at S. A fosse (Wth of top 7-10.5m; ext. D 1m at S to 3m at N) separates it from an outer bank (at N: Wth of base 6.5m; Wth of top 2m; ext. H 1m) that is much reduced (Wth of base 5m; ext. H 2m) at S. There is a slight outer fosse (Wth of top 5m; ext. D 0.5m) at N (max. ext. diam. 68m N-S). The entrance (Wth of base 2.4m) though the inner bank and the remains of a causeway are at ESE. 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. Date of revision: 6 December 2017

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