Ushnagh Hill

6 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Ushnagh Hill, from 4,431 m² (0.44 ha, 1.09 acres) to 467,270 m² (46.73 ha, 115.46 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 11 neighbouring parcels touch it.

No zone of a development plan covers Ushnagh Hill in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply to each application.

Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.

No planning application touches the townland of Ushnagh Hill in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches the townland of Ushnagh Hill.

Recorded monuments

• WM024-027 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Situated on a terrace, on N-facing slope of a hill, in pasture, with excellent views to W and N. Annotated ‘Rathfarsan’ and depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as an oval-shaped earthwork. Bivallate ringfort described in 1971 and 1976 as an oval-shaped area (dims. 47.60m NE-SW and 35.50m NW-SE) enclosed by an earth and stone bank, an intervening fosse and an outer bank. The inner and outer banks are substantial and the intervening U-shaped fosse is wide and deep (D 3m). The inner bank has several small disturbance gaps. The outer face of the inner bank has been steepened and partly stone faced from NE-E-SSE to form part of a modern field fence. The fosse has been modified from NE-E-SSE and the outer bank has been removed at this point. The outer bank is slightly disturbed in several places and has several small gaps. The original entrance is not recognisable. A rectangular-shaped house site (WM024-027001-) is visible in S quadrant. A low rise or platform is located to N of the house site and a second low rise is visible in the NW-quadrant. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 31 July 2019

• WM024-027001 House - indeterminate date
  Description

  Situated on a terrace, on N-facing slope of a hill, in pasture, with excellent views to W and N. In the S quadrant of the interior of a ringfort (WM024-027----) are the remains of a rectangular-shaped house site (dims. 5m NE-SW; 4m NW-SE) defined by a slight earthen bank (overall Wth 1.4m; Wth at top 0.4m; H 0.25m) with a gap (Wth 3.3m) in the S side, at the SW corner, which may represent a doorway. A low rise or platform is located to N of the house site and a second low rise is visible within the NW-quadrant of the ringfort. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 31 July 2019

• WM024-058 Barrow - ring-barrow
  Description

  A report dating from 1976 describes the barrow as a ‘small circular bank of earth/stone with shallow internal fosse surrounding a small central mound (diam. 8m E-W) of stones. It is situated on top of a high outcrop of limestone and is probably a small ring-barrow. Located close to the top of the hill. Excavated by Macalister [No. 2]. There is a modern boundary fence directly to the W of it’ (SMR file 25/04/1976). Described by Jim Reynolds as ‘a very small circular earthwork consisting of a small very low circular mound surrounded by a shallow fosse. Beyond this is a fairly wide low bank. The earthwork is on the northern slope of a hill with very wide views to east, north and west. There are several areas of rock outcrop in the vicinity of the barrow. To the north of the barrow the ground falls away fairly sharply’ (SMR File). Another site report dating from 1979 described the monument as a ‘very small stone/earth low mound is surrounded by a shallow fosse which is enclosed by an earth/stone bank very low. Placed on top of a stony knoll just N of the summit of the hill. The bank is gapped on the W, N and E. Macalister put a cutting through it but found nothing’ (SMR File 15/05/1979). A second report from the same date describes the monument as following; ‘The approx. circular area on top of a sharp knoll is slightly scarped and surrounded by a shallow fosse which is best seen on the W-S and E but hardly visible in some places. It is enclosed by a low earthen bank which again is best preserved on the NW, W and SW and also to be seen in the E sector. There is a probable gap or entrance feature on the N and SE. The interior rises to the flat top of the knoll and shows no sign of disturbance except in the SE sector where a hole has been dug beneath a large limestone (erratic) pillar. This may have been a standing stone. There is some disturbance along the line of the scarp and fosse in the N sector and in the W sector an old field fence runs close to the bank. Diam. 35m’ (SMR File 15/05/1979). Surveyed in 2013 and described by McGuinness (2014, 65) as following: 'Tiny, roughly circular mound (Diam. 3.2m N-S x 3.5m E-W) surrounded by a ditch, with an overall diameter of 7.8m (NS and EW). Traces of a bank are currently visible outside the ditch on S side, but Macalister and Praeger, who excavated and made a sketch-plan and profile of the monument, clearly document this bank all around the perimeter. Large limestone boulders protrude from the mound and, most noticeably on W side, from the outside of the ditch; these are shown to be part of the bank on Macalister and Praeger’s plan. To NW of mound a boulder appears to lie in the ditch. Ditch ranges from 1.7m to 2.3m in width, being widest on W side, and is up to 0.49m in depth below external ground level on deepest S side; mound rises up to 0.49m above ditch on N side. The author concurs with Schot (2006) in identifying this site as a ring-barrow. Macalister and Praeger aptly compared it to the ring-barrow at Grannagh, Co. Galway. They ‘trenched across’ the mound but ‘found absolutely no trace of interments or of any other deposits’, although ‘the disposition of the stones inside the mound was not unsuggestive of a roughly constructed grave’; no account of the excavation was provided—where they dug their trench, whether they accurately reconstructed the monument afterwards, etc.—although their sketch-plan appears to show these central stones. Barrow lies at N end of a broad, gently curving ridge with protruding boulders, apparently the terminus of a lateral moraine (pers. comm. Seamus O’Brien); ridge runs S towards ruined megalithic structure known as St. Patrick’s Bed (WM024-059----) on western summit of Hill of Ushnagh c. 150m to SSE. Ground falls away sharply to N of barrow. Frewin Hill (WM011-131---) and Knockdrin (WM012-183---), prominent locations of summit cairns or tumuli (McGuinness 2012, 28, 34-5), are visible to NE and ENE respectively'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 10 March 2016

• WM024-059 Megalithic tomb - unclassified
  Description

  St Patrick's bed was described in the late 1880s as following; 'If there are any remains on Ushnagh Hill of a structure of the dolmen class, they are to be looked for in a long raised area crowning the elevation, and called Patrick's Bed. It is surrounded by stones on edge, and is about 21 feet [6.4m] long, and 4 or 5 feet [1.2-1.5m] wide. O'Donovan says that the people complained that "the sappers removed stones from it, before which it was much more perfect." Its situation would have been just the one for a dolmen, and it is too narrow to have been a church. I carefully examined it, but cannot speak with certainty as to its having been a dolmen, although what it can have been, if it were not, it is difficult to say. No trace of a roofing-stone is visible' (Borlase 1897 vol. 2, 373). O'Donovan (OSL 1837, 14/G/13/12(19) ) recorded that local people complained that "it was much more prefect before the sappers removed stones from it, before which it to form a Trig. Station on the hill". Monument described by Schot (2016) as following; ' The monument known as ‘St Patrick’s Bed’ crowns the highest point of the Hill (180m above sea-level), near the western end of the summit plateau, and commands extensive, panoramic views over the central plain of Ireland. The name was first recorded by John O’Donovan (OSL 1837, I, 42) and is likely to have been inspired by early legends of the saint’s visit(s) to Uisneach. Although its dilapidated condition makes classification difficult, it is likely to be the remains of a megalithic tomb (Borlase 1897; Schot 2011). Today it consists of a low, sub-rectangular cairn with a NNW/SSE long axis, revetted on the W and N by upright stones. It measures 9.2m in length by 3-4m in average width and stands to up to c.1m high. Two slightly curving rows of small, upright stones extend westwards from its NW and SW angles respectively, and may be original features. Geophysical survey around St Patrick’s Bed has revealed the footprint of two enclosures (probably originally defined by wooden palisades), the smaller of which underlies the cairn while the larger encircles it (Schot 2011)'. See attached photo (WM024-059----_01) provided by Dr. Roseanne Schot Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 07 May 2019

• WM024-059001 Enclosure
  Description

  Two previously unrecorded enclosures (WM024-059002-) were revealed by geophysical prospection around St Patrick’s Bed (WM024-059----) (Schot 2005; 2011). The larger of the two enclosures can be traced as a shallow curving depression to the S of St Patrick’s Bed, and was shown by geophysical survey to encircle the monument. It is evidenced as a narrow, circular band of enhanced magnetic values, 0.5-1m in width and 35m in diameter, with suggestions of a second, concentric arc running 3-4m inside it. The enclosure was also mapped by resistance survey as a discontinuous ring of low resistance values. Its geophysical signature and relatively narrow width suggest it is likely to comprise the palisade trench of a timber enclosure. There are hints of a gap on the E side of the enclosure, as well as a more clearly-defined gap (1-2m wide) at the S. Two parallel (low resistance) lineations, spaced 3-4m apart, extend southwards from the latter gap, suggesting this to be a formal entrance feature. St Patrick’s Bed is located just N of the centre of the enclosure, which also overlaps with a smaller – and possibly earlier – enclosure (WM024-059002-) of similar form (Schot 2016). Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 08 May 2019

• WM024-059002 Enclosure
  Description

  The second enclosure discovered by geophysical survey on the W summit of Uisneach measures 23m in diameter and appears as a narrow, discontinuous band of enhanced magnetic values, 0.5-1m in width. It is likewise interpreted as the slot-trench of a palisaded enclosure, although the possibility that it represents the remains of a roofed timber building – while less likely – cannot be ruled out. The geophysical evidence suggests that it underlies, and therefore predates, the 35m enclosure (WM024-059001-), and also St Patrick’s Bed (WM024-059----), to the E. As such, it may be the earliest archaeological feature yet discovered at Uisneach. A significant number of pit-type features were recorded inside and around the enclosure. One of the largest lies at the approximate centre of the enclosure and is surrounded by an arc of possible post-pits on the N (Schot 2016). Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 08 May 2019

• WM024-060 Ritual site - holy well
  Description

  Described in 1976 as a ‘fine spring still flowing. It is directly to the W of a ringfort (WM024-063----). At the E head of the well is a limestone boulder (WM024-060001-) of square shape which may have been deliberately erected there’ (SMR File 23/04/1976). The 1838 Ordnance Survey Memoranda records in a letter from Fenwick to Larcom that ‘at the well by the fort is an upright stone about 3 ft. [0.9m] high...well called Tubber na Slath and was formerly a place of pilgrimage but is now disused’ (SMR File). Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 10 March 2016

• WM024-060001 Standing stone
  Description

  Described in 1976 as a ‘fine spring still flowing. It is directly to the W of a ringfort (WM024-063----). At the E head of the well (WM024-060----) is a limestone boulder of square shape which may have been deliberately erected there’ (SMR File 23/04/1976). The 1838 Ordnance Survey Memoranda records in a letter from Fenwick to Larcom that ‘at the well by the fort is an upright stone about 3 ft. [0.9m] high...well called Tubber na Slath and was formerly a place of pilgrimage but is now disused’ (SMR File). Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 12 August 2019

• WM024-062 Earthwork
  Description

  There is no file in the ASI archives for this entry. Situated on the Hill of Ushnagh, 165m SE of St. Patrick's Bed (WM024-059----) and 90m WSW of possible ritual pond (WM024-064002-) known as 'Lough Lugh'. Poorly preserved roughly rectangular-shaped area (dims. c. 47m N-S x 65m E-W) defined by a low bank best with external fosse best visible from NW-N-E, elsewhere the enclosing element has been levelled. A lot of stone outcrop is visible in SE quadrant of earthwork. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 16 August 2023

• WM024-063 Barrow - unclassified
  Description

  Situated on a hillock on the S side of the Hill of Ushnagh, in pasture with excellent views to SSE, S, and W. Holy well annotated 'Tobernaslath' (WM024-060----) lies c. 15m to W. Bivallte earthwork described in 1971 as a roughly circular-shaped area (dims. 36m WNW-ESE; 31m NNE-SSW) defined by an inner fosse and two outer banks. A narrow, shallow inner fosse is visible at W, NNW and E. There are two widely spaced outer earthen banks which are not concentric, although they make contact at N. The original entrance is not recognisable. The interior rises gently from the perimeter towards the centre and a large slab lies prostrate in the SW quadrant. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 12 August 2019

• WM024-064001 Burial ground
  Description

  The Ordnance Survey Memorandums of 1825-43 contains a letter from Lieutenant R. Fenwick to Lieutenant T. Larcom concerning the presence of an 'old burying ground' on the Hill of Uisneach. The letter recorded the following details; 'close to the two houses near to the site of the small lough (WM024-064001-) E. of the [trig station] are 3 walls (also of stone and lime) belong to some ancient building, they are 5 ft. [1.5m] high and 3 ft. [0.9m] wide. The people belonging to the house say that they are the walls of an "old castle or monastery". North of the houses at the levelling point 563 [ft. marked on 1837 ed. OS map] they point out the site of an old burying ground but now quite obliterated, the ground is ploughed up & no traces whatever remain. Can this be the monastery mentioned by Lanigan in Vol. IV page 37, as the place where the synod was held in 1111 - the masonry appears to be of that era'. O'Donovan wrote in the OS Letters that 'the churchyard referred to by Mr. Fenwick I take to be the site of the church of "Eachy Uisnigh" mentioned in the Irish Calendar. Would it not be curious to mark it: Site of Old Church and Churchyard'. In 1837 John O'Donovan wrote the following about a possible church site on the Hill of Uisneach; 'It would also appear from the Calendar of the O'Clery's that an early saint of the name Eochy had built a little church or hermitage on this hill of Uisneach, but no traces of a church was pointed out to me. Mr Fenwick mentions a churchyard just effaced' (OSL 14.G.13.12 (20/21) ). Situated on a slight S-facing slope to SE of the summit of the Hill of Ushnagh, in pasture with excellent views to N, E and S. This burial ground is to N of a possible church (WM024-064003-) and overlooks a ritual pond (WM024-064002-) to the immediate SSE. Monument described in 1971-1983 as a subrectangular-shaped area (dims. 35.5m E-W) defined by a bank and field walls and an outer fosse. A low earthen bank incorporating small rock outcrops and with several slight disturbance gaps is present along the S side only. The bank joins up with another bank at SE which extends a few metres to SSE and then turns to E. There are vague traces of an outer fosse along the S side. The other sides of this burial ground are enclosed by stone built field walls and it is essentially now a small field. The original entrance is not recognisable. The surface of the interior is quite rough and there are some rock outcrops and other stones within and there is much outcrop surrounding the site. There are no indications of any graves or gravemarkers. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Revised by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of revised upload: 13 August 2019

• WM024-065 Hut site
  Description

  Situated on S-facing slope of the Hill of Ushnagh, in pasture, with good views to S. Monument described in 1963 as a small D-shaped enclosure which possibly represents the remains of a hut site located to the SE of St. Patrick's Bed (WM024-059----) (OPW Field Report 15/08/1963). Levelled monument described in 1983 as no surface remains visible of possible hut site which was located near the SW corner of a large rectangular-shaped earthwork (WM024-062----) . Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 13 August 2019

• WM024-176 Building
  Description

  Possible site indicated as 'Ruin' on the 1837 OS Fair Plan map, a letter from Fenwick to Larcom in the OS memoranda states that this ruin is located 'close to fence NW of Trig. Station a small enclosure of stone and lime & is evidently ancient'. Site visited in 1983 and described as 'The site is on the NW shoulder of a ridge on the N side of the hill of Usnagh. There is a scatter of boulders, some quite large and and some bedrock breaking through the field surface. However, these form no definite or clearly definable pattern and there is no trace of a building or of the foundations of a building. A stone field fence from E-W immediately to S of where the 'ruin' is indicated. The site commands a spectacular view to E, N, NW. ' (SMR file 12 July 1983). A small building indicated on the first edition of the OS 6-inch map may be the monument described in the OS memoranda. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revision/upload: 27 April 2010

• WM024-193 Ritual site - holy well
  Description

  Holy well dedicated to St. Patrick was described in the Ordnance Survey Letters as following; 'Tradition says that there was a well on the hill of Uisneach called St. Patrick's' (OSL 1837, 14/G/13/12 (19)). Holy well described by Schot (2016) as; 'Shown as a spring with a SW-flowing stream on the 1838 Ordnance Survey map, the name ‘St Patrick’s Well’ was recorded by John O’Donovan (OSL 1837, I, 42) but does not appear on Ordnance Survey maps. The spring formerly supplied water to Lunestown House and was described in the 1920s as ‘a copious supply of good water, but not apparently possessing any especial sanctity at present’ (Macalister and Praeger 1928, 78). It is one of a number of springs and bodies of water on Uisneach which may have been imbued with ritual significance in antiquity (Schot 2011). Today, the well is surrounded by a stone pavement and enclosed within a modern wall of rectangular plan, with iron railings. Next to the well on the NW is a squat, upright stone, which may be of archaeological significance. It is roughly D-shaped in section, with a rounded top, and appears to be composed of locally derived limestone. The stone is oriented E/W and its broad, S face is vertical and smooth'. See attached photo provided by Dr. Roseanne Schot Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 07 May 2019

• WM024-194 Ring-ditch
  Description

  This possible burial monument was identified by geophysical survey c.30m S of St Patrick’s Bed (WM024-059----), in close proximity to two palisaded enclosures (WM024-059001-/002-) (Schot 2005; 2011). It appears as a semi-circular arc of positive magnetic values (c.12m in diameter), extending clockwise from the SW around to the NE, where it is defined by a bulbous terminal, possibly a pit. Ploughing in recent centuries may have destroyed the E sector of the ring-ditch and could also account for the very faint geophysical signature of several other potential ring-ditches identified to its NW and E (Schot 2016). Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 08 May 2019

• WM024-195 Barrow - mound barrow
  Description

  Monument identified and described by Schot (2016) as following; 'This feature is located on a slight rise littered with surface outcrop, c.75m SE of St Patrick’s Bed (WM024-059----), and may be a small barrow (Schot 2011). It consists of a low, circular earthen mound, c.5.5m in diameter and 0.4m in maximum height, with a gently rounded profile. There are no surface indications of an enclosing ditch or bank'. See attached photo provided by Dr. Roseanne Schot Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 08 May 2019

• WM024-196 House - medieval
  Description

  Monument identified and described by Schot (2016) as following; 'Approximately 20m down-slope to the SE of the possible mound-barrow (WM024-195----) is a set of conjoined earthworks which may comprise the remains of a sub-rectangular house (Schot 2008, 121–22; 2011, 98) of medieval date. The site consists of two slightly sunken areas bounded by a series of low banks of earth and stone, with a NW/SE long axis (overall dimensions 12.8m by 6.3m). The banks are up to 1.4m wide and stand 0.5m above the interior ground surface on the NW, but are very denuded on the N, NE and SW. A gap in the E end of the bank separating the two segments of the earthwork could mark the position of an internal doorway. The site affords good views to the NE and SW, but is overlooked by rising ground in other directions. A derelict, possibly ancient, field boundary runs in a NW/SE direction several metres to the W'. See attached photo provided by Dr. Roseanne Schot Compiled by: Dr. Roseanne Schot Date of upload: 08 May 2019

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Ushnagh Hill.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

No address of the register names Ushnagh Hill with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Westmeath.

Name

Ushnagh Hill

Area

1,015,918 m² (101.59 ha, 251.04 acres)

Civil parish

Conry, and its townlands

Barony

Rathconrath

Electoral division

Ballymorin, the unit of the census

Neighbouring townlands

Clonownmore, Kellybrook, Lockardstown, Mweelra, Rathnew, Togherstown

Placenames

Ushnagh Hill on logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland

Townlands, civil parishes, baronies and electoral divisions, National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. A townland is the smallest land division of Ireland, and the unit of a rural address; old registers such as the 1901 and 1911 censuses file it under its civil parish and barony.