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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Ritual site - holy well

Bigwood, County Westmeath, Ireland

The record

Townland
Bigwood
County
Westmeath
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
53.73506, -7.31160
SMR number
WM003-008003-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1636 "Vltoniae Orientalis Pars" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the summit of a hill known locally as 'The Hill of Mael' with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside in all directions. Cashel (WM003-008----) standing inside a large possible trivallate hillfort (overall diam. 370m E-W) with possible prehistoric field system (WM003-008002-) running across the hill and St Brigid's holy well (WM003-008003-) located below S summit of hilltop (Adams 1957, 45). Unable to locate holy well on the summit of the hill which was described in 1957 as 'the impressive Hill of Mael around the summit of which can be seen the embankment of a hillfort and which has St. Brigid's Well, reputed never to dry up (an it certainly kept running throughout the dry summer of 1955) just below it summit on the south side' (ibid.).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 24 January 2020

References

ASIAP - Archaeological Survey of Ireland Aerial Photographs (c. 1996 - c. 2010).

Adams, F.R.G. 1957 As viewed from the Ben of Fore (2). Ríocht na Mídhe I (3), 44-49.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Ritual site - holy well in Westmeath All County Westmeath records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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