What is recorded here

Top of a hill in Crossdrum Lower, an oval rath still stands with a grass floor, earthen banks, a cutting between them and a narrow causeway leading in from the north-east. People have long called it a fairy fort, as if the shape belonged to someone smaller, quicker and less honest than human builders. The name may be mischief, but the place keeps it straight: a made circle on open sky, old enough to lose its makers and strong enough to hold their absence.

Situated on top of a hill. This is an oval grass-covered area (dims 50m ENE-WSW; 37m NNW-SSE) that slopes down (H 1.1m) from the W to the centre. It is defined by an overgrown earthen bank (Wth of base 6-7m; int. H 1.1m; ext. H 2.6-2.9m) separated by a fosse (Wth of top 9.5-11m; Wth of base 2.5m; ext. D 0.8m at ENE to 1.6m at WSW) from an overgrown outer bank (at ENE: Wth 5m; int. H 0.5m; ext. H 1.2m) NW-N-SE that might be a field bank. There is a berm (at ENE: Wth 5m) between the fosse and outer bank at N-SE. The entrance through the inner (Wth of base 2.1m) and outer (Wth of base 4.3m) banks and a causeway (Wth of top 2.7m; H 0.7m) are at NNE. There is a depression (dims 9.5m E-W; 5m N-S; D 0.3m) E of the centre that could be a collapsed Man-made underground passage, of which there is a local tradition. The inner bank has inner facing stones NE-SE and on either side of the entrance. There is an E-W field bank outside the perimeter SE-WSW. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 31 October 2018 Amended: 15 December 2022

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