Outlined — Clondalever (moyashel & Magheradernon By.)

Monument surveyed in 2015 and described by McGuinness (2015, 43-4) as following: ‘Steep sided mound (Diam. 11.60m N-S x 12m E-W) with gently domed upper surface (Diam. 8m N-S x 7.70m E-W), perhaps originally approximately circular but now angular in appearance, with rounded ‘corners’ on S side where roots of mature trees have held the mound together, and an almost straight line on W side where poaching by animals and slippage have occurred; other erosion is clearly evident on N and S sides, where large chunks have been removed. That the mound has been reshaped at some stage is indicated by the presence of a much eroded dry-walled revetment on SW side, with a surviving length of 1m and maximum height of 0.50m. This walling runs partly under the base of a mature ash tree and might have been added sometime in the last few hundred years to support this large tree at the mound’s edge, where it might otherwise have toppled to SW, although loose stones at base of NW side of mound may indicate that the walling ran around a longer stretch of the perimeter. Mound rises up to 1.70m above ground level where highest on W side. To N and S are traces of a low step or scarp extending up to 6m (N) and 4.20m (S) from base of mound. What appears to be an arc of ditch, 1.80m across and sunk 0.16m below external ground level, runs for 4.30m along base of NE side of mound, but, while the ASI account of 4/5/76 refers to ‘a shallow fosse around the earthwork & a low irregular bank beyond it’ [SMR file], and that of 9/3/70 refers to ‘a shallow trench dug around [the mound] from SE-S-NE’ [SMR file], no clear trace of a ditch is currently visible except at NE; and the ASI fieldworkers were uncertain of this monument’s status as a barrow, one wondering whether ‘The bank and fosse may not be original features’ [SMR file]; presumably this ‘bank’ equates with the low step or scarp visible on the N and S sides of the mound. According to the ASI account of 9/3/70: ‘Some years ago a cross-bar was inserted in this mound and disappeared from view. Locals believe on this account that there is a cave in it.’ Possibly this is a cist. Monument lies immediately W of a field fence running NNW-SSE, which marks the boundary between landholdings and passes over E edge of mound. It is located on a low, gently rounded hill that drops much more steeply down to N than to S; slope on E side is similar to that on W, in neither instance quite so steep as on N side. Three other hilltop-barrows in this townland would be visible but for trees: a mound- or bowl-barrow (WM013-016----) c. 750m to W and two denuded mound-barrows (WM013-003----; WM013-112----) on N side of valley of the Drumhurlin River c.1.2km to N’. See attached profile of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Date of upload: 6 February 2016