Megalithic tomb - court tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

On the NE flank of Tory Hill on the W side of a shallow valley, within an overgrown triangular area (Wth 22m at SW) of uncultivated land. Consisting of two very ruined back-to-back galleries (L c. 15m), aligned NE - SW. Each gallery appears to have been divided into two chambers. The SW gallery is 5m long and its front portion is destroyed. The rear chamber is represented by a gable-shaped backstone, two sidestones and two opposing, inset jamb-stones. There is a single surviving N sidestone of the second chamber to the SW. Beyond this a field bank crosses the monument. The NE gallery (L 6m) is more disturbed but was of similar construction to the other. The rear chamber is represented by the backstone, a single N sidestone and two opposing, inset jambs-stones. Only two stones of the N side of the chamber to the NE survive. The outermost may be a longitudinally-set entrance jamb or portal. A distance of 1.7m separates the backstones of the galleries. Though no evidence of a court survives the general design is clearly indicative of the monument being the remains of a dual court tomb. (de Valéra and Ó Nualláin 1962, 117-23)

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 12 May 2021

References

de Valera, R. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1962 A court cairn in Co. Kilkenny. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 92, 117-23.