Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ringfort - rath
Balsaw, County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Balsaw
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Fort
- Latest-edition OS map
- Hachured
- Coordinates
- 53.72834, -6.70915
- SMR number
- ME018-007----
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
Located towards the bottom of a W-facing slope. A faint circular feature (diam. 35m) is depicted on the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map where it is annotated as a ‘Fort’, and a small hachured feature is represented on the 1908 edition. It was described in 1968 (SMR file) as a circular enclosure (diam. 36m E-W; 33m N-S) defined by a broad, low bank (Wth of base 7-9.5m; int. H 0.2-0.5m; ext. H 0.5-0.7m) and an outer fosse (Wth of top 6.5-9m; ext. D 0.2-0.3m). The likely entrance (Wth of base 3.3m) is at WSW and the perimeter was skirted by a field bank S-SW. The visible profile has eroded since then but its fosse is visible on OSI images (1995).
See the attached view from OSI (1995)
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 upload: 10 July 2007
Revision: 24 March 2023
Nearby in the register
- Souterrainunder 1 mi
- Standing stoneunder 1 mi
- Moated siteunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.