What is recorded here

Timber circle in Raffin stands on a narrow ridge in County Meath, where layers of human life stacked across millennia. What first appeared as a simple ring-barrow in 1969 proved after 1988 damage to contain Neolithic dwellings, Bronze Age enclosures, and an Iron Age ceremonial circle marked by five posted pits. The site transforms a humble grassy mound into a crowded chamber of forgotten rituals, domestic routines, and deliberate memory-making.

Situated on the summit of a N-S ridge. When first described in 1969 (SMR file) the earthwork presented as a large ring-barrow consisting of a circular grass-covered area (diam. 38.5m NW-SE) separated by a fosse (Wth of top 6.5m-7.5m; Wth of base 2-2.5m; int. D 0.6-0.7m; ext. D 0.8-0.9m) and an outer earthen bank (Wth of base 3-5.8m; ext. H 0.5m at NW to 1.2m at SE). The earthwork was damaged in 1988 and a subsequent excavation (E000510) in the years 1989-1993 revealed a complex of features including a possible Neolithic house, two hut-sites, two enclosures, two timber circles, and a ritual burial. The oval palisaded enclosure (ME011-040004-), which enclosed a circular hut-site (ME011-040005-), proved to be Late Bronze Age in date. These were superseded by an Iron Age hut-site (ME011-040007-) that was within an enclosure (diam. c. 21m) of a ceremonial nature defined by at least five pits (max. diam. 0.8m; max. D 0.75m) placed c. 6m apart, each containing a single post and placed c. 6m from the walls of the hut and which could be described as a timber circle. (Newman 1993c, 14-15; 1993d, 23) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 10 April, 2019

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.