Megalithic tomb - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

This monument is not shown on any edition of the OS 6-inch map. It stands in sloping pasture, 2.8km W of the inner reaches of Lough Swilly, across which there is an extensive outlook. Hilly ground closeby restricts the outlook to the W and N.
The monument consists of a small roofless chamber. A backstone at the ESE and two opposed sidestones adjacent to it form the chamber. It is c. 1.5m long and narrows from 1.7m at its open WNW end to 1.1m at the backstone. A displaced slab, 1.6m by 0.6m by 0.35m thick, rests against the front end of the southern sidestone. There is a partly buried slab, 1 .lm by at least 0.5m and 0.15m thick, at the front of the chamber. This was visible in 1975 and is shown on the plan. By 1983 it had been concealed by a mound of dumped material consisting of roots of furze bushes cleared from the land and some sizeable stones.
A grass-grown mound around all but the northern side of the monument measures 5.7m, along the chamber alignment, by 4.2m and is not more than 0.5m high. It seems to be composed largely of stones, and much of it may be derived from field clearance.
The backstone is 0.95m in exposed height at its inner face. The northern sidestone is 1.lm high. The southern one overlaps the end of the backstone and is 0.8m high.
As a small single chamber facing uphill, this may have been a portal tomb, and it has been so listed in the past (Ó Nualláin 1983a; 1983b). It is possible that the large displaced slab resting against the front of the southern sidestone is a fallen portal-stone. There remains, however, the possibility that the structure is the remnant of a more substantial monument. In the absence of clear diagnostic features, it has since been listed as unclassified (Ó Nualláin 1989).
Fagan 1845-8, book 6, 11; Kinahan 1885-6, 427; Borlase 1897, 234, Kilmacrenan no. 30; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 32, no. 59 (plan); Ó Nualláin 1983b, 94, Donegal no. 12; SMR 1987, 53:10; Ó Nualláin 1989, 142; RMP 1995, 53:10.

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

See linked document with details from Eamon Cody, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI. County Donegal. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002)