Megalithic tomb - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

This feature was named 'Labba' on the original OS 6-inch map (1834) and on the revised 6-inch map of 1847-9. There is now no trace of it. It is described in an OS Name Book (1834) as 'a small collection of stones eight in number' said to have been a temporary residence for a husband and wife, a reference, it appears, to the Diarmuid and Gráinne legend.
According to Thomas Fagan (1845-8), the structure was removed in 1842. On the basis of local information gleaned on his visit to the area in 1845 he concluded that it was a 'Druidical sepulchre' of the type known to the people as 'Dermot and Grania's Bed' and that it had occupied a space 40 feet (c. 12.2m) by 20 feet (c. 6.1m) inside 'a parapet of earth and stone' and had consisted of 'sundry vaults or graves' built of large stone slabs 2-5 feet (c. 0.6-1.5m) high. A central 'vault' measured 10 feet (c. 3.05m) by 6 feet (c. 1.8m) and was covered by a single great flag. The other graves were of 'minor size', but there is no information about their number or position relative to the so-called central vault. On the destruction of the monument, 'shin, thigh and other human bones of large size' were reportedly found, as well as over three cartloads of sea shells and two 'brass' spears each c. 18 inches (c. 0.45m) long, 'one embracing the handle by a socket and the other by straps'. Many other finds of 'minor order' were lost by local children. The floors of the graves were said to have been paved with large and small stones.
Although the monument appears to have been some form of chambered burial site, its nature remains uncertain.
OS Name Book, Clondahorky parish (1834), book 4, 52; Fagan 1845-8, book 4, 6; Borlase 1897, 231, Kilmacrenan no. 4; Killanin and Duignan 1962, 260; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 263; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 49, no. 180; SMR 1987, 15:18; RMP 1995, 15:18.

The above description was published in the 'Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI, County Donegal.' Compiled by: Eamon Cody (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002).

Date of upload: 22 September 2008