Outlined — Cooksborough

Monument surveyed in 2015 and described by McGuinness (2015, 47) as following: ‘Roughly circular, elegantly dome-shaped mound (Diam. 12.6m N-S x 12.3m E-W) with flattish summit, reaching a height of 1.9m above ground level at N side; although the ASI account of 11/3/70 claims the site is ‘probably a bowl barrow’ [SMR file], there is no clear evidence for a ditch except for vague and doubtful traces on N side. Mound appears to be very stony under the sod but it is unclear whether it is a cairn or simply made of stony earth. A tree grows on N side of mound and a thorn tree on its S side, and the ASI in 11/3/70 documented a blackthorn hedge at its foot of the mound from S-W, the remnants of a square fence depicted on OS 6” map [SMR file] Barrow is strikingly situated near N edge of flat summit of very prominent glacial hillock which is stepped at its lower levels, with ground dropping down most sharply to E; it overlooks a stream to N. This is one of a group of five barrows spread over three townlands on either side of the stream, including two other mound-barrows (WM020-027----; WM020-028---), now destroyed, which also lay on hillocks across the stream c. 200m to NE, but again overlooking it; and two ring-barrows (WM020-142----, c. 120m to NNE; No. 14, c. 90m to NNW), much closer to the stream in the once-flooded area at the foot of the hillocks; when flooded, the hillock on which the present site is located rose dramatically from the flooded area to N (pers. comm. landowner)’. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Date of upload: 8 February 2016