Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on top of a broad hill. A small feature (diam. c. 5m) is depicted on the NNW-SSE field bank and townland boundary between Antfield to the E and Aghintas at a point where a WSW-ENE field bank in Aghintas meets the boundary on the 1835 edition of the OS 6-inch map. It is described in gothic lettering as a 'Monument' and is c. 20m NNW of the conjunction with the townland boundary of Finnalaghta townland – the stone of Fionn - and the summit of the hill is c. 130m to the SE. A small cairn is thought to have been erected over the bodies of soldiers slain in 1689, according to a 19th-century manuscript (TCD MS 1483, G5 17-20). It was described in 1945 as a small mound with bushes and was locally thought to be about 300 years old (OSFM). The surviving overgrown portion is D-shaped (ext. dims c. 9m E-W; c. 9m N-S) and is the SW quadrant of a small enclosure that has been removed elsewhere. It is defined by a slight earthen bank (at S: Wth 2m; int. H 0.1m; ext. H 0.4-0.5m) curving S-W and by field banks at N and E. There is no evidence of a fosse.

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 23 September 2008
Amended: 6 January 2020

References

OSFM. Ordnance Survey Field Memorandums. A collection of survey notes and descriptions of monuments on pro-forma sheets compiled by Ordnance Survey field staff in the course of the 1:2500 map revision of various counties, mostly dating from 1931 – early 1960s. These unpublished manuscripts form part of the records of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service Archive, Dublin.