Prehistoric burial mounds seminar in athlone

A major seminar on Prehistoric Burial Mounds in Westmeath will be held in The Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone, on Monday, May 25 (8pm).

Archaeologist Dr David McGuinness will deliver the speak on the important survey work he has undertaken over the past three years, under the auspices of Westmeath Heritage Forum. Dr McGuinness will describe the work on Barrows which are prehistoric burial mounds dating back to the Bronze Age.

These features are particularly well represented in Westmeath and many have been misclassified in previous surveys. He will be accompanied by Emeritious Professor of Archaeology at UCD, Mr Michael Herity, who has published extensively on Mottes and Mounds in Ireland.
He will examine the provenance of some of these magnificent features in Westmeath such as the famous one near Lough Ennell.

Geographer Seamus O’Brien will examine the close association between these prehistoric archaeological features and existing geomorphological features such as Kames and Kettle Holes deposited during the Ice Age.

The survey of prehistoric burial and ritual mounds begun in the county in 2012 in the barony Corkaree and part of barony of Moyashel and Magheradernon. The 2013 work saw the barony of Rathconrath and parts of the baronies of Moygoish, Moycashel and Moyashel and Magheradernon examined. The work survey was continued in 2014 when the prehistoric burial mounds of the baronies of Fore, Delvin and Farbill were examined.
As the number of monuments investigated increases, trends recognised in earlier seasons are emphasised. A significant number of monuments identified as ringforts in the 1996 preliminary Record of Monuments and Places, compiled by the National Monuments Service, are now recognised as ring-barrows; thus the proportion of ritual to habitation monuments is increased and an extension of this enquiry beyond the borders of County Westmeath is indicated.

A small number of larger monuments, like Dún na Sgiath on the southwest shore of Lough Ennell, have been surveyed and are now recognised as late prehistoric ‘moats’ – often named and featured in early Irish literature - of the type discussed in Herity’s Moats and Mounds paper in JRSAI 1993.

Westmeath Heritage Forum wishes to express its gratitude to the landowners who willingly gave Dr McGuinness and his survey team access to the sites. They also thank the Westmeath Archaeological and Historical Society and Thomas Cassidy, Peter Wallace and Ruth Illingworth, who gave freely of their time. The expertise awarded to the project by Dr. McGuinness, Mr Herity and Seamus O’Brien is also acknowledged and appreciated. All are welcome to attend the seminar in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel.