Moat in Rathbranchurch

Slieve Breagh is an ENE-WSW ridge (L of summit c. 500m) that is part of an NE-SW line of hills which extends from Rathkenny, Co. Meath almost to Dunleer, Co. Louth (L c. 15km). There are a number of summit ridges with high cols between them. Breagh is derived from Brega (the heights) which is also the name of the Meath territory. The E end of this summit and much of its S face in Creewood townland is now reclaimed pasture but the remainder in Rathbranchurch is unchanged from the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map and preserves a collection of earthwork monuments consisting mostly of barrows and a few raths as well as some hut-sites that were recorded in the 1950s (de Paor and Ó h-Eochaidhe 1956). The earthworks sometimes impinge on each other, but as the area is now largely overgrown with furze it is not possible to examine them closely to tease out any sequence of monument construction. This feature (No. 22) is located in uncultivated land at the highest point of the summit ridge and could be the primary barrow. It is a grass and scrub-covered mound (diam. of base 18m; H 2-2.5m) surrounded by a fosse (Wth of base 1-3m; ext. D 0.2m at NE to 1m at SE) and a slight outer bank (ext. H 0.2-0.5m). The S edge of the fosse and bank are truncated by the ENE-WSW field bank and townland boundary between Rathbranchurch and Creewood (max. ext. diam. 28m NE-SW). (de Paor and Ó h-Eochaidhe 1956 101, No. 22) This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 11/1956). See the attached plan of the monuments from de Paor and Ó h-Eochaidhe (1956, fig. 2) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987).