Moat, Cave

Located on a level landscape and c. 70m from the edge of a steep scarp (H c. 5m) down to the valley floor of a NW-SE section of the meandering Mattock River. This is a grass-covered mound (diam. of base 30m NNW-SSE; 28m ENE-WSW; H c. 3m) that is badly damaged at SE where it was quarried in the nineteenth century. A kerbstone (L 1.3m; Wth 0.15m; H 0.4m) is visible at SE but the tips of other stones can also be seen protruding through the sides of the mound and there is a plough scarp N-E. The monument is described in OS Name Book (1836) as 'a small moat which has a cave in it', suggesting that it contained a megalithic chamber, possibly a passage-tomb. Archaeological testing (04E0238) by P. D. Sweetman c. 80-100m to the S produced no related material (excavations.ie 2004:1289). (O'Kelly 1978, 63, Site S) Compiled by: Michael Moore 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. Date of upload: 10 July 2007 Amended: 28 January 2021 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 2/1956).