Cairn — unclassified in Mountseskin

This cairn was situated on top of an elongated ridge that runs W of Knockannavea This was a circular, raised area, largely formed of cairn material (diam. c. 6m; H 1.2m). It was one of a group of cairns on Tallaght Hill and is marked on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a circular mound. The site is not depicted on the revised 1863 OS 25-inch map suggesting it was somewhat more denuded by that time. A new forest track ran through the middle of the monument when it was inspected in 1994 (SMR file). An inspection of the area in 2013 suggested the monument was in a different location close by in a rectangular clearing to the E of the forest track. This specific location in the clearing in Mountseskin was the subject of an archaeological assessment in 2016 under licence No. 15E0509 The assessment was carried out by Edmond O'Donovan, the results of which were summarised as follows; 'This archaeological work was undertaken to establish and investigate ground adjacent to and around a ‘cairn’ that had been described as the site of a Recorded Monument (DU024-024----) where mechanical excavation had occurred. This report concludes that the surviving mound was modern and the disturbed area appeared to be of no archaeological significance and that the Recorded Monument (DU024-024----) appears to lies c. 10m to the northeast of the area where ground disturbance took place. The archaeological topsoil stripping and investigation of the mound on site was directed by O’Donovan between 16 February 2016 over a four day period to 19 February 2016. No archaeological material was uncovered during the archaeological digging on site, topsoil stripping and mechanical excavation of the mound site in 2016. The locations investigated corresponded with the locations where ground disturbance had previously occurred on or around December 2013. However, remains of a mound of possible archaeological derivation was identified 10m to the northeast on a forest track on lands not disturbed since the afforestation in c. 1993. This is thought to be the Cairn Site (DU024-024----). The site measures 8m in diameter. It is located on the shoulder of Mountseskin Hill where the ground falls on all four sides. The fall is more distinct to the north, south and west and is faint but evident to the east' (O'Donovan 2017).’ The Cairn Site that survives in the woodland is close to the location where the monument is depicted on the 1st edition OS map and corresponds with the topographical and physical description of the site as recoded in 1994 (SMR file). The mound in the clearing identified in 2013 was found to be modern and not of archaeological significance. See attached location map and photographs courtesy of Ed O'Donovan, black and white photograph looking NE taken by Paddy Healy 10/07/1988 Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy Revised by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Edmond O'Donovan Date of revised upload: 21 November 2022