Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Children's burial ground
Milltown (fore By.), County Westmeath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Milltown (fore By.)
- County
- Westmeath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Outlined
- Latest-edition OS map
- Outlined
- Coordinates
- 53.64470, -7.30314
- SMR number
- WM007-051----
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 rising ground in pasture-land with fairly wide views of the surrounding countryside. Whitehall R. C. Chapel 180m to E. A large sub-triangular shaped area (approx. diam. 100m N-S; 120m E-W) enclosed by a well preserved earthen bank (max. H 1m), gapped in places, and wide shallow external fosse. Entrance gap and causeway at SW. A field fence bisects the site from NE-SW. The interior contains cultivation ridges which run E-W in the W half of the site, and N-S in the E half. Remains of a ring-barrow (WM007-051001-) visible in the E quadrant. No visible remains of standing stone depicted on the 1911 ed. OS 6-inch map. A post-1837 field boundary intersects the monument at S, and a modern road curves around the monument from S-ESE. A low oval shaped earthen mound is located in a field to the S. This enclosure may have been used as a children's burial ground which is mentioned in the Schools' Collection for Castlepollard School. The folklore recorded from this school stated that there was a burial ground for unbaptised children in Whitehall which was not in use in the 1930s (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0721, Page 176).
See attached section of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI.
Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien
Date of upload: 13 April 2017
Nearby in the register
- Barrow - ring-barrowunder 1 mi
- Standing stoneunder 1 mi
- Stone headunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.