Cairn - burial cairn

The National Monuments Service's description

Located at Grianán of Aileach, to SE of the cashel (DG047-012001-) and within the enclosing banks of the hillfort (DG047-012005-).
This cairn (DG047-012002-) was intact in the early 19th century. It is recorded on the 1837 OS 6-inch map as a small circular double-ringed feature (diam. c. 15m); however, it is not shown on later map editions, and it seems that it was destroyed sometime in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. In 19th-century accounts it is referred to as a ‘tumulus’ (Colby 1837); it may have been a cairn or mound, possibly a prehistoric burial mound, but this is not certain. During field survey in the 1980’s, a hint of a curving bank and a low mound of broken stones, possibly vestigial remains of the cairn, were noted SE of the cashel entrance, midway between the inner and middle enclosing banks, more or less at the location shown on the 1837 map. This area is now largely heather covered and no remains are visible.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 6 March 2019

References

Colby, Col. 1837 Ordnance Survey of Ireland County of Londonderry. Vol. 1. Dublin