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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Ringfort - rath

Emper, County Westmeath, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Ringfort - rath, Emper, County Westmeath, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Emper
County
Westmeath
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Hachured
Latest-edition OS map
Partially hachured
Coordinates
53.59752, -7.59104
SMR number
WM010-006----

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

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1811 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (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 a gentle NW facing slope in pasture-land with extensive views to the W, N & SE. A large circular shaped area (approx. diam 67m N-S; 60m E-W) enclosed by a substantial earth and stone bank and slight external fosse. The bank has several disturbance gaps and is best preserved from ESE-SSE and from S-SSW. Externally the bank has been steepened and faced with dry-stone walling from SSW-W-N-NNE. Traces of cultivation ridges are visible running NE-SW across the interior. A roadway running NW-SE cuts through the SW quadrant of the monument as depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map. Two field fences intersect the site at N & NNE. The depiction of the monument on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map would suggest that this was originally a bivallate ringfort, with oval-shaped interior measuring approx. diam. 30m E-W. The internal enclosing feature has been levelled just leaving the large outer enclosing bank that is depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map.

Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 6 June 2017

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 Ringfort - rath in Westmeath All County Westmeath records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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