Henge in Newgrange

Located on the floodplain on the N bank of a W-E section of the River Boyne, c. 140m from the river in Brú na Bóinne. This was first identified through a LiDAR survey (Davis et al. 2010, 180, LP2) as a low-profile mound (ME019-094001-) with slight traces of an outer enclosure (ext. diam. c. 140m) defined by an extremely low bank. Geophysical survey (10R0124: Barton 2010a) of the mound revealed evidence of an excavated feature (dims 16m x 2m) aligned roughly NNE-SSW with splayed terminals, each 7m wide. It was suggested (Davis et. al. 2013, 233) that this may represent the remains of a passage tomb. Aerial photographs taken by the National Monuments Service in July 2018 (Condit and Keegan 2018, 36-43) show that the enclosure (int. diam. 114m N-S; 103m E-W), which has come to be known as the Univallate Henge, is defined by a relatively slight earthen bank (Wth c. 7.5m) with an internal segmented ditch surrounding the central mound. The 24 segments of ditch (dims 6.2-7.3m x 1.5m) are remarkably regular with in-turned ends and are placed 4.9-5.3m apart. A likely entrance is identified at ESE where the bank appears to be absent and there is a wider gap between the fosse segments. About 20m inside the segmented ditch at N an arc of a parallel ditch and other features are tentatively visible. The perimeter is interrupted by a NNE-SSW field bank at W, and the mortuary enclosure (ME019-094002-) interrupts the bank of the henge at NW. Another long mortuary enclosure (ME019-094003-) is just outside the henge at ENE, and the Geometric Henge (ME026-033----) is c. 80m to the ESE.      See the attached aerial view from SW Compiled by: Paul Walsh Revised by: Michael Moore Date of revised upload: 08 October 2025