849 Ft. OD

Situated on top of Mullagh Hill with panoramic views in all directions. Good view of Lough Sheelin 3.8km to N. Small irregular shaped cairn (Diam. 7m; H 0.4m) with faint traces of a possible external bank visible as a low rise of ground in places at a distance of c. 2m from base of cairn material. This cairn marks the spot height of 261m OD. The monument could be the remains of a 19th century cairn constructed by the Ordnance Survey. Alternatively it could be the remains of a prehistoric cairn that was reused by the OS in the 19th century. Cairn was used as a penitential cairn / mass site in the 17th/18th century. Local folklore recorded at Finnea National School in the late 1930s recorded the following details 'On the top of Mullagh Hill near Foyran, Co. Westmeath there is a big stone with some letters inscribed on it. In years gone by Bishop Hughes [Hugh] said mass on this stone’ (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0719, Page 032; www.duchas.ie). I was unable to locate any large stone used as a mass rock with an inscription in the vicinity of the cairn. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 14 September 2018