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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Hut site

Rathduff (rathconrath By.), County Westmeath, Ireland

The record

Townland
Rathduff (rathconrath By.)
County
Westmeath
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
53.55905, -7.54506
SMR number
WM017-018001-

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

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the E-facing shoulder of a hill, in reasonably good pasture. Not depicted as an antiquity on any edition of the OS 6-inch maps. Shown as an area of rock outcrop on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch where it is depicted as a narrow rectangular shaped area defined by a townland boundary from SW-W-N and by a low earth and stone bank elsewhere. Along the NW side of this area of rock outcrop the townland boundary with Irishtown kicks out in a semi-circular fashion following the outline of a sub-circular shaped enclosure (WM017-018----).
Site consists of a sub-circular shaped area defined by the remains of a stone wall visible from SW-W-N where it forms the townland boundary with Irishtown and elsewhere by an earth and stone bank with traces of an external fosse. The townland boundary at NW has a distinct angle. The interior is subdivided by low earthen banks creating small rectangular and sub-rectangular shaped plots which are clearly visible on Digital Globe aerial coverage. The internal subdivisions are more fragmented across the W half of the interior and incorporate a small circular shaped hut site (approx. diam. 10m) at NW which is defined by a low earth and stone. Cultivation ridges running NE-SW are visible in fields immediately to E and S. It is possible that some of these earthworks could be the result of post-medieval quarrying as the site is located on natural rock outcrop. The remains of two larger rectangular-shaped enclosures are located in field 45m to E which may be related to the larger circular shaped enclosure. Possibly the remains of a small clustered settlement contained within a circular-shaped enclosure.

See attached image of hut site from Google Earth taken 24/03/2017 .

Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien

Date of upload: 28 November 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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