Barrow — unclassified in Syonan

Situated on a gravel ridge, in undulating pasture. Annotated ‘Moat’ on the 1837 OS Fair Plan. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a large earthwork (overall approx. dims. 50m NE-SW; 45m NW-SE) which is bounded by a townland boundary to SE, SW and NW. Not depicted on the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map and possibly was levelled during the construction of the Midland Great Western Railway (b. 1845) (Clara Branch opened 1863) which cuts N-S directly across this location. The townland boundary has been adjusted to E of the monument on the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map. In 1858-8 the Royal Irish Academy purchased antiquities supplied by W. R. Wilde one of which was described as a 'A very beautiful cinerary urn, now numbered 49, in continuation of those in the printed Catalogue. It is of the vase shape, 5½ inches high, 6½ in diameter of mouth, and 7½ in the widest part. Although the material of which it is composed is not of so fine a character as that of many of the other urns in the Museum, the style of ornamentation is unique, and much more complicated than in any other specimen. It was found in a stone chamber at the moat of Sionan, near Horseleap, county of Westmeath, and was purchased from P. Fagan. Four beads, one of vitrified paste, and three of rough coloured glass, purchased along with the former, and now numbered 181 to 184 in Railcase D' (PRIA 1857-61, 128). This may be the 'Moat of Sionan' described by Waddell (1970, 134) as a bowl food vessel which was found ‘in a stone chamber’ suggesting that the ‘stone chamber’ in question may have been a Bronze Age cist that was situated in this earthwork thus confirming it as a type of burial mound or barrow. Levelled monument described in 1973 as no surface remains visible. The railway line seems to have cut through a small gravel ridge or hillock at this location. The line has since been lifted and the edge of a gravel ridge is now visible to the immediate E side of it. A laneway adjoins the E side of the residual portion of gravel ridge. Levelled monument is not visible today on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 22 November 2019