What is recorded here

Moat is a grass-covered barrow at the centre of a hillfort on a three-summit ridge in County Meath. It stands about a metre high with a twelve-metre base, tucked into the SW summit where the ground falls steeply on every side except the gentle northern slope. The name appears in gothic lettering on old maps, suggesting the mound has watched this ridge for centuries. People may have built it as a marker, a grave or a boundary, but its position at the heart of the hillfort makes it more likely to have been a place of recognition rather than ordinary burial.

Located at the centre of hillfort (ME013-012001-) and at the SW summit of a NE-SW ridge (L c. 1.2km) that has three summits. The ground falls away steeply on all sides except N-NE where the slope is much less before it rises again to the central summit. The barrow is described as a ‘Moat’ in gothic lettering on the 1836 and 1908 editions of the OS 6-inch map. It is a grass-covered earthen mound (diam. of base 12.8m E-W; 12m N-S) with a rather flat top (diam. c. 5; H c. 1m at N to c. 1.3m at S). (Ó Ríordáin 1956) This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 12/1987), and is in state ownership: No. 651. 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: 3 August 2022

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