1973:068 - RATHNARROW, Westmeath

Six burial mounds have been located at Rathnarrow. Barrow III is a low circular mound with a slight central depression surrounded by a round-bottomed ditch of varying width with a low broad earthen bank at its outer edge. The mound is 15m in diameter and 1.2m higher than the bottom of the ditch. The ditch is 7-8m broad, the bank 6m broad and about 20cm high.

The 1973 excavation was limited to a preliminary cutting in the N.E. quadrant. This revealed a portion of a pit under the centre of the mound which rises to a maximum height of 40cm above the old ground surface. Limited excavation of the upper pit-fill produced many fragments of cremated human bone. The cutting exposed two parallel arcs of irregularly weathered grey-white limestones resting on the old ground surface underneath the mound. The arcs, possibly parts of two concentric rings, are 1.2m and 3.8m from the centre. The stones which have small spaces between them average 30cm long x 25cm broad x 25cm high. Between the two arcs in a concentration of smaller stones. All save four were resting on the old ground surface. Between these stones and on the ancient soil were many fragments of charcoal. Where excavated the ditch was found to have been c. 2.6m deep originally. Traces of broad cultivation ridges were found crossing the bank. One of these yielded a 19th century clay pipe bowl. A thick layer of ancient soil with a clearly defined limit 3m outside the outer lip of the ditch was found beneath the bank. The ancient soil and ditch fill promise to yield considerable ecological data. Some waste flint flakes were found but no artifacts.