What is recorded here

The priest’s fort in Drumgoosat is a 49-metre earthen ring on a drumlin crest, its bank reduced to a shallow scarp in places yet still drawing the eye around a complete circle. It is the kind of monument that stops a person mid-sentence because the ground has kept a shape longer than memory. A man may have stood at its edge, watched the ridge tilt into distance, and felt the smallness of human ownership. The priest may have walked it, others may have forgotten it, and the earth may have taken back every name except the shape.

Situated at the crest of the N end of a NW-SE drumlin ridge, it is known locally as ‘the priest’s fort’ as it was owned by the parish priest at one time. It is a circular grass-covered area (diam. 49m N-S) that slopes down slightly to the N and is defined by a slight, intermittently visible earthen bank (at SE: Wth of base 4.4m; Wth of top 1.2m; int. H 0.4m; ext. H 0.65m) that is largely reduced to a scarp (at NW: H 2.05m). There is no visible fosse or identifiable original entrance. P 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: 31 July 2017

A fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Drumgoosat, likely dating to the early medieval period, is a circular, grass-covered earthwork situated on a drumlin ridge and locally known as ‘the priest’s fort’ due to its historical ownership by the parish priest. Such sites were often associated with both agricultural activity and folklore, believed to be dwellings of fairies or ancient spiritual significance.

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