Barrow - ring-barrow

The National Monuments Service's description

This possible burial monument is located on the gentle south-facing slope of Uisneach, overlooking a small lake that formed in recent decades in an area that may also have been prone to water-logging in the past (Schot 2005; 2011). Identified during field survey, it survives as a slightly raised, circular area, c.0.15m in height and 3m in diameter, surrounded by a shallow ditch and very low, external bank measuring c.7m in overall diameter. The site provides good views to the E and SW but is overlooked by higher ground on all other sides. A well-defined ring-ditch (WM024-201----) and a second, possible ring-ditch, were recorded by geophysical survey c.65m to the northwest, and an ancient roadway (WM024-067----) runs in a north/south direction to the west.
Macalister and Praeger also identified in this general area an ‘earthwork’ (WM024-175----) which they described as being ‘identical in character’ to a ring-barrow (WM024-058----) located near the western summit of Uisneach. They ‘trenched through’ the earthwork, but found ‘it did not contain so much as a construction of stones’ (Macalister and Praeger 1928, 83). However, the dimensions recorded by Macalister and Praeger for this putative barrow (diameter of central mound, 6.4m; width of ditch, 2.75m; depth of ditch 0.38m; width of outer bank, 2.75m) suggest that it was more than twice the size of the present ring-barrow, and is therefore likely to represent a separate monument, no obvious trace of which survives today.

See attached photo provided by Dr. Roseanne Schot

Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot

Date of upload: 08 May 2019

References

Schot, R. 2011 From cult centre to royal centre: monuments, myths and other revelations at Uisneach. In R. Schot, C. Newman and E. Bhreathnach (eds), Landscapes of cult and kingship, 87–113. Dublin.

Schot, R. et. al. 2016 Conservation Plan for the Hill of Uisneach, Co. Westmeath – Part 1: Assessment of Cultural Significance, with contributions by D. Drew and R. Sherlock.

Macalister, R.A.S. and Praeger, R.L. 1928 Report on the Excavation of Uisneach. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 38C, 69-127.

Schot, R. 2005 Geophysical survey report: The Hill of Uisneach. Co. Westmeath. License No. 03R090. Unpublished Report. National Monuments Service. Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.