Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ringfort - rath
Bigisland, County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Bigisland
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.50167, -7.03000
- SMR number
- ME041-001----
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
Situated on a rise in a low-lying landscape. It is not depicted on any OS 6-inch map but it is visible on aerial photographs (GSIAP: N 306, 307) from the 1970s. In 1985 (SMR file) this was an oval and domed (H 1.6m), grass-covered area (dims 61m N-S; 45m E-W) defined by a fosse (at S: Wth of top 3m; int. D 0.8m; ext. D 0.3m; at N: Wth of top 5m; int. D 0.9m; ext. D 0.3m). An entrance is not identified, but the interior has some grass-covered quarries. The interior was crossed by a NE-SW field bank just SE of the centre with a drain on the NW side. The visible had been removed by 1995 (OSAP) but the cropmark is visible on some aerial series (OSAP 2017; Digital Globe c. 2013).
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.
See the attached view from OSAP (2017)
Compiled by: Michael Moore
Date of revision: 9 August 2019
References
GSIAP - Geological Survey of Ireland Aerial Photographs (c. 1973). Geological Survey. Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.
OSAP - Ordnance Survey Aerial Photographs. Photographic collection. Ordnance Survey of Ireland. Dublin.
SMR file - Sites and monuments record files in the National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Nearby in the register
- Ringfort - unclassifiedunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - rath1 mi
- Burial ground1 mi
- Earthwork1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.