Ceremonial enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a S-facing slope of Windmill Hill, 110m SW of the Irishtown henge (ME038-011----) and 800m N of a canalised ESE-WNW section of the River Hurley, a tributary of the River Nanny. This is a circular enclosure (diam. c. 140m) defined by an earthen bank that varies in scale from at W (Wth of base 7.2m; int. H 1.7m; ext. H 2.2m) to at SSW (Wth of base 10.5m; max. int. H 1.5m; max. ext. H 2.25m), but there is no visible fosse either within or without. It is truncated by a NW-SE lane at E which has removed a considerable length of the perimeter (L c. 60m) and the bank is lowest (at S: Wth of base 10m; int. H 0.5m; ext. H 2m) S of this break. There are gaps at S (Wth 32m), SW (Wth 12.2m) and NW (Wth 17m) and there is a modern entrance (Wth 4m) at N, but the original entrance is probably that at SW where the ground level falls sharply immediately outside. The house (ME038-010001-) is in the north interior, and the souterrain (ME038-032----) was discovered c. 70m outside the perimeter to the NE. Archaeological testing (12E0049) by R. Meenan c. 20m to the E at the closest point produced no related material (excavation.ie 2012:462) and further testing (13E0443) by the same archaeologist c. 70m to the SW provided a similar result (excavations.ie 2013:426). Archaeological testing (17E0390) by R. Meenan c. 350m to the SSW and on a laneway extending NE from it produced no archaeological material (excavations.ie 2017:780). (Stout 1991, 263)

Date of revision: 10 January 2017
Amended: 19 March 2021, 14 April, 2021, 13 April 2022

References

CUCAP - Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs. Unit for Landscape Modelling, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. See:https://www.cambridgeairphotos.com

Moore, M. 1987 Archaeological inventory of county Meath. Dublin. Stationery Office.

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.