Why this matters
A local fairy fort (ringfort/rath); wider significance not recorded.
Overview
Outlined — Clopook is recorded as Hillfort in Laois. The placename ‘Cloghpooke’ is annotated on the 1563 map of Laois-Offaly and this hilltop fortress or hillfort is traditionally associated with the O’Moore/O'More clan. Clopook was located in the Gaelic lordship of 'Farryn O'Kalle' and in 1551 the lands of 'Powkiscastell' [Clopook] were leased to Sir John Travers (Nicholls 1994, 166).
Who made it and when
The saved account records: It consists of a partially isolated rock, standing out from the range of hills on the northeast side of the valley, and was mot probably at a very early age occupied as one of the chief fortresses of the O’Moore’s, perhaps indeed a royal residence.
How it was made and used
The saved account records: Immediately to the E of this entrance gap there is a small outer bank with entrance gap acting like a barbican or defensive earthwork protecting the entrance into the hillfort interior.
What was found
The saved account records: It is stated, that near the verge of the circle stood a castle (LA019-021004-) in former times, and that at its foundations were two compartments
What remains
The saved account records: as a person advances in, it is from four [3.65m] to five [4.5m] yards in breadth and at thirteen yards [11.8m] from the entrance it becomes extremely narrow, and is closed up by dry stones, lest cattle descend into the cave and be lost’(Byrne 1852, 298).
Why it mattered
Outlined — Clopook matters because a belief or tradition is tied to this exact place and forms part of its local memory. The source records: The name in Irish is said to have been Dun-Cluain-Phuc, interpreted as “the fortress of the lonely spirit’. The tradition is kept as a recorded belief; it is not silently turned into literal fact.
History checked 15 August 2026 against the named sources below.
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