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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Barrow - stepped barrow

Mitchelstown, County Westmeath, Ireland

The record

Townland
Mitchelstown
County
Westmeath
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Hchured
Latest-edition OS map
Hachured
Coordinates
53.61967, -7.08096
SMR number
WM014-001----

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 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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The National Monuments Service's description

Situated at the end of a low ridge on partially reclaimed grassland with good views of the surrounding countryside. Townland boundary with Ellenstown 80m to E and mound barrow (WM009-0035----) 300m to N. Monument depicted on 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map as a small mound enclosed by a fosse and outer enclosing berm. Described in 1973 as a ringfort consisting of a low circular mound (approx. diam. 7m) enclosed by a shallow internal fosse and flat berm (approx. diam. 35m N-S; 21m E-W) the outer edge of which is defined by a low earthen bank and external fosse. The presence of the circular-shaped mound in the centre of the monument suggests that this monument represent the remains of burial site rather than a ringfort. The mound in the centre of the site was described in 1976 as an unusual feature the purpose of which was uncertain. The mound could represent the remains of a burial mound enclosed by an internal fosse with berm and external fosse. The profile of the monument suggests that this site may be the remains of a barrow. The mound could be a later landscape feature built onto the interior of a platform type ringfort as hinted at in the 1973 site report.

Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 27 August 2018

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
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