What is recorded here
Indicated is a ring-cairn on a NNE-facing slope in County Carlow, Ireland, where a broad stone bank still encloses a level grassy chamber beneath open pasture. The kerbstones protrude through the slip like teeth, marking a boundary made visible rather than written. People may have gathered there to watch the northern horizon, measure distance, or remember an event now lost. The Raheen name preserves local recognition even when the deeper meaning has faded.
On a NNE-facing slope in undulating terrain, in upland region, under pasture. It is on the lower slope of a hill which rises to the SW. There are extensive views to the N and good to the E but the view is impeded by the rise in slope to the S and W. This monument consists of roughly circular area (int. diam. 20m N-S; 19.2m E-W; ext. diam. 30.6m N-S; 29.3m E-W) enclosed by a bank composed of small stones. The bank (int. H 0.1m; ext. H 1.7m; Wth of kerbed bank 4-4.6m; overall Wth including slip 5.1m) is retained by kerbing stones internally (average dims. H 0.4m; 0.3-04m x 0.4-0.5m), these being best preserved in the NE quadrant. There is also a suggestion of external kerbing, with several possible kerbstones protruding from the bank slip from N-S. In the ESE there is a large external kerbstone (H 0.66m; Wth 0.8m; T 0.2m) with another large more rounded boulder immediately to the N, though on a slightly different line suggesting it may have slipped forward. Though built on a hillslope the interior is relatively level, though slightly hummocky. The bank (int. H 1.47m; ext. H 0.2m; overall Wth 5m)from S-N is grass covered and falls sharply to the interior, particularly where the slope is highest. There has been a lot of field clearance stones dumped on the bank, particularly along the inner face of the bank from S-WNW, with some spillage into the interior. There is a slightly depression in the bank in the NW quadrant and the inner portion of the bank is denuded in the ESE. The remains of a levelled out field boundary are visible 1m N of the monument running roughly E-W. The monument is known locally as the Raheen.
See attached photographs:
CW017-062----_01 overview from S looking N
CW017-062----_02 overview from E
CW017-062----_03 overview from N looking S
CW017-062----_04 detail of NE quadrant from the S
CW017-062----_05 detail of SE quadrant from the interior
Compiled by: Jean Farrelly
Date of upload: 18 November 2014
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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