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Cairn

Cairn, unclassified

What is recorded here

Cairn is a cairn (unclassified) in Ballyhattan, County Westmeath, Ireland. An 18th or 19th century account by Austin Cooper describes a small Crom-Liac standing on an eminence, surrounded by a circle of rude stones twenty-four yards in diameter with a double row of stones leading to its covered back. The monument included a chamber no more than four feet high, and while many stones were demolished in the memory of nearby inhabitants, a sufficient number remained standing to describe the circle at that time.
Situated in undulating pasture, with extensive views in all directions. Monument described in the 18th/19th century by Austin Cooper as following; 'This small Crom-Liac stands in the County of Westmeath on the Lands of Ballyhattan opposite the Green of DonoreGeoghegan (from which it is seperated by a river) and lying within 20 yards of the highway at a Village called the four roads, and on the Estate of a Mr. Ahmooty. It is obscured by a ditch or bank built into it, which I have purposely left out of this View, and I apprehend is considerably filled up with clay and rubbish; the little Chamber not being more than four feet [1.2m] high; and the upper point of the covering stone only eight feet [2.4m] above ground. It stands on the brow of an eminence, and was surrounded but a circle of rude stones 24 yards in diameter a sufficient number of them are still standing to describe the circle, though many of them have been demolished in the memory of the present neighbouring Inhabitants. There appears to have been a double row of stones like an avenue from the Circle to the Cromliac, and not leading to the open or Chamber, but to the Covered or back part of it as in the Margin' (Price 1942, 122). This levelled burial mound or cairn with possible central cist is not visible today on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 22 November 2019

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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