Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated towards the SE end of a broad NW-SE ridge. It is depicted as a circular wood (diam. c. 60m) on the 1836 and 1912 editions of the OS 6-inch map and it is described as ‘Reillystown Fort’ in italic lettering on the latter. The rath is a circular grass-covered area (diam. 42m WNW-ESE; 40m NNE-SSW) defined by a widely spread earthen bank (at NW: Wth of base 11m; int. H 0.4m; ext. H 0.4m) and outer fosse (at NW: Wth of top 8.5m; Wth of base 3m; ext. D 0.4m), but the bank is incorporated into the bank (at SE: Wth of base 4.5m; int. H 0.5m; ext. H 1.1m) of a tree-ring SE-WNW with an outer stone facing and an outer drain (ext. D 0.3m) SE-S-WNW. The bank of the tree-ring (diam. 67m NW-SE) and its hedge is separated by a berm (Wth 6-8m) from the fosse of the rath WNW-N-SE. The original entrance of the rath is not identified, and all the trees had recently been removed in 1968 (SMR file).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revision: 9 April 2019

References

SMR file - Sites and monuments record files in the National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.