Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Hillfort
Heathtown, County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Heathtown
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.60327, -6.34704
- SMR number
- ME033-011----
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 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
This monument is described by Stout (1991, 259-63) as:
This monument was first detected through aerial survey undertaken by Swan. It is situated on the exposed southern slope of a narrow ridge 1km west-north-west of the Fourknocks / Micknanstown enclosure (ME033-025----) and 700m to the west-south-west of Micknanstown (ME033-013----). Geology and soil type are similar to Fourknocks. The enclosure has been referred to as two separate sites: a ringfort, which has been incorporated into a field fence, and a mound (Hartnett 1957, 264). On the ground are two apparently unrelated segments of bank, but aerial photographs have shown these to be connected by a very low earthwork partly enclosing a large, oval, intensively cultivated area. Overall, the enclosure probably had a maximum north-west to south-east diameter of 200m. The enclosing bank, where preserved, tends to be flat-topped with a maximum height of 1.7m and an average width of 12m. The interior of the enclosure is again slightly dome-shaped. There is no evidence for a ditch associated with the enclosure. The field fence, which runs E-W across the centre of the monument, takes a pronounced bend around a circular depression in the interior of the enclosure. Hartnett (1957, 264) noted two circular areas, each 6m in diameter, which he believed to be house sites (within a ringfort) enclosed by the northern circuit of bank.
(Hartnett 1957, 264. Thornton 1980, 92-3; Moore 1987, 40, No. 306)
Date of revision: 10 January 2017
This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 14/1976).
References
Stout, G. 1991 The embanked enclosures of the Boyne region. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 91C, 245-84.
Thornton, G. 1980 A survey of the earthen enclosures of the Boyne Valley and related sites. MA thesis, University College, Dublin.
Hartnett, P.J. 1957 Excavation of a passage grave at Fourknocks, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 58C, 197-277.
Moore, M. 1987 Archaeological inventory of county Meath. Dublin. Stationery Office.
Nearby in the register
- Earthworkunder 1 mi
- Ring-ditchunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
- Ring-ditchunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.