Maguires Fort — Esker North

In pasture, located on a low narrow elongated rise or esker This rath is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map as a circular embanked enclosure; by the time of the 1930 edition only the W half of the enclosure is shown, depicted as an arc of hachuring (diam. c. 25m NE−SW), enclosed within a narrow wooded space. On both map editions it is named ‘Maguires Fort’. Much of the esker has been quarried away and as a result the rath appears to have been largely destroyed. It is possible that portions of the rath remain intact between the areas of quarrying but this is uncertain. A short length of curving bank (Wth 2.5m; H 0.5m) appears to be all that remains of the enclosing bank; it is located at the N end of the esker, and probably equates with a portion of the NW arc of the rath. The remainder of the rath cannot be traced. An area on the SW side of the esker has been dug away, concreted over and is now used for the storage of silage bales, and a trackway leads N from this to the road that borders the NE side of the field, extending through what would have been the W half of the rath. Beech, ash, sycamore and hawthorn trees, as well as brambles, grow on the surviving remnants of the esker. There is no trace of the children’s burial ground (MA030002-) which was located at the rath. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 20 December 2022