What is recorded here

Rathbranchurch is a 38-metre earthen ringfort on a south-facing shelf in County Meath, its grassy interior bounded by a bank and a ditch now re-cut as a drain. The southeast entrance still holds a narrow causeway, marking the exact line where people once crossed into the protected middle. Surrounding forest and a wide fallow band keep the circle visible, inviting wonder about the families, arguments and quiet rituals that filled the space before the land was measured.

Situated on a shelf that is on a S-facing slope. This is a slightly raised, circular, grass and rush-covered area (diam. 38m WNW-ESE) defined by an earthen bank (at N; Wth of base 4.5m; int. H 0.6m; ext. H 1.7m) with some bushes and an outer fosse (at N: Wth of top 3.7m; Wth of base 2.6m; ext. D 0.25m) that has been re-cut as a drain with a field bank outside it SE-W. The original entrance (Wth at base 1.9m) with a causeway (Wth of top 1.6m; H 0.2m) is at SE. It remains unplanted in a forest with a fallow area (Wth 20m) around it. 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 upload: 10 July 2007 Amended: 2 August 2022

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