Mound

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a gently sloping terrace, on a steep S-facing ridge slope with excellent views over the Palmerstown River estuary and Kilalla Bay. There is a stone circle (MA015-025001-) 50m to NE.
This mound is a National Monument in State ownership (No. 389). On the 1838 OS 6-inch map it is depicted in outline as a simple oval. It, and the adjacent stone circle (MA015-026001-), are indicated as ‘Cromlechs’, and both are depicted as rough circles of boulders on the 25-inch plan; and on the 1922 OS 6-inch edition they are also marked as 'Cromlechs', but the mound is indicated with a rock symbol and the stone circle with a dolmen-type symbol.
De Valera & Ó Nualláin (1964, 95) record the mound as follows: ‘This monument is marked by the symbol for a rock but is not named on the O.S.6” 1837. It is the more southerly of the two monuments marked under the name ‘Cromlechs’ in Rathfran in the current edition [1922] of the map. It consists of a roughly oval mound with some nine embedded stones, from 0.8 m. to 1.65 m. in maximum dimension, visible along the perimeter. The mound which is up to 1.00 m. high measures about 11.50 m. (E-W) by 9.00 m. (N-S). None of the stones along the perimeter appear to be set and the mound itself is used as a dump for field stones. A stone, 1.25 m. long, 0.8 m. thick and .04 m. high, is set erect about 5.00 m. north of the monument. Though in its present condition the nature of the monument must remain doubtful it may well have been a stone circle similar to No. 7 [MA015-025001-].’

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 28 November 2017

References

de Valera, R. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1964 Survey of the megalithic tombs of Ireland. Volume II Co. Mayo. Dublin. Stationery Office.