Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the shoulder of a hill, where land falls steeply to NE, E and SE. Barrow (WM018-092----) lies c. 175m to E. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as an oval-shaped enclosure. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a D-shaped earthwork, traversed by a field boundary running E-W across the S quadrant with a second field boundary running NE-SW across the E quadrant. A circular-shaped earthwork annotated 'Rathcloghey' is depicted on an estate map of Rathconrath dating from 1776 (NLI, MS 21 F. 48 (026) ).
Monument described in 1983 as a well-preserved circular-shaped area (diam. 56m) enclosed by a substantial bank (int. H 1m) of earth and large stones. There are no indications of an external ditch. The S quadrant of the enclosure is divided off from the remainder of the interior by a modern field fence. A house site (WM018-091001-) is located within the NW quadrant. A possible souterrain (WM018-091002-) is located within the W quadrant. There are other ridges in the interior forming no definite pattern. Monument is visible as an oval-shaped, tree-lined earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography.

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

Date of upload: 05 February 2019

References

NLI, MS 21 F. 48 (26) - National Library of Ireland, A map of lands at Ballinbeg Rathconrath and Simonstown... in the barony of Rathconrath and County of Westmeath. Names of tenants and acreage of holdings shown. Longfield Map Collection. Dublin.