Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ceremonial enclosure
Raffin, County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Raffin
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Raffin Fort
- Latest-edition OS map
- Raffin Fort
- Coordinates
- 53.78850, -6.75627
- SMR number
- ME011-040----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1636 "Vltoniae Orientalis Pars" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Situated on the summit of a N-S ridge. When first described in 1969 (SMR file) it presented as a large ring-barrow consisting of a circular grass-covered area (diam. 40m N-S; 39.5m E-W) separated by a fosse (Wth of top 6.5-7.5m; Wth of base 2-2.5m; int. D 0.6-0.7m; ext. D 0.8-0.9m) from an outer earthen bank (Wth of base 6.5-8m; ext. H 0.5m at NW to 1.2m at SE). A NNW-SSE scarp (H 0.4m) sloping down to the W that proved to be early medieval crossed the interior and extended across the fosse at N. There was an entrance (Wth of base 1.7m) in the outer bank at SSE.
The earthwork was damaged in 1988 and a subsequent excavation (E000510) in the years 1989-1993 revealed a complex of features including a possible Neolithic house (ME011-040003-), Late Bronze Age (ME011-040005-) and Early Iron Age (ME011-040007-) hut-sites, the fosse of a Neolithic enclosure (ME011-040002-), a Late Bronze Age palisaded enclosure (ME011-040004-), two timber circles (ME011-040001-; ME011-040006-), and a ritual burial (ME011-040008-). The excavation demonstrated that there was a causeway inside the entrance gap which had a metalled surface in the outer bank of the final monument (Newman 1993c, 14-15). The N-S surface scarp had a gully at its W base, and it appears to have overlain the circular Iron Age hut-site. A sample from the gully provided a C14 date of AD 380-670, but there appears to have been no further structural development of the monument after this (ibid. 18)
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: 10 April 2019
This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 4/1988).
References
SMR file - Sites and monuments record files in the National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Newman, C. 1993c Raffin Fort, Co. Meath Interim Report. Unpublished report, Author
Nearby in the register
- Hut siteunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
- Timber circleunder 1 mi
- Burialunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.