Megalithic tomb - court tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

National monument No. 247. A levelled possible embanked stone circle (LI032-003----) with adjoining megalithic structure to SSE is located in grassland 550m W of Lough Gur with Limerick-Cork road immediately to E. The megalithic structure annotated as a 'Stone Avenue' on the 1927 ed. OS 6-inch map and as a 'Stone Circle' on the OS 25-inch map is located in an area with a large concentration of prehistoric monuments. Two standing stones (LI032-009-/010002-) lie 255m and 340m respectively to the NE, two stone circles (LI032-006----/005) lie 150m to E, a roadway depicted as 'Cladh na Leac' (LI032-010001-) running roughly N-S lies 375m to E. Grange embanked stone circle (LI032-004001-) with site of megalithic structure depicted as Dolmen (Site of) (LI032-004002-) stands 150m to SSE, a standing stone marked as 'Cloch á bhíle' stands 275m to SSE with a levelled megalithic structure (LI032-010003-) depicted as 'Giants Grave (Site of) lies 465m to SSE. Grange Castle (LI032-001002-) and Cathar Chinn Chon (LI032-001002-) stands 215m to W.
No monument is depicted at this location on the first edition Ordnance Survey [OS] 6-inch map. However on the revised 1927 edition OS map, the monument is depicted an oval-shaped area delimited by 7 orthostats and annotated as a 'Stone Avenue' immediately SSE of a levelled embanked stone circle (LI032-002----). On the 25-inch OS map the monument is depicted as an oval-shaped area (approx. diam. 20m NW-SE x 8m NE-SW) delimited by 11 orthostats with a single stone in NW quadrant and is now annotated as a 'Stone Circle'.
In 1869 Professor Harkness described the site as following: ‘A short distance N.W of these three circles (LI032-005-/006-/004001), and in a field adjoining the Limerick high-road, there are other traces of prehistoric remains. These occur in the form of a few large blocks of stone arranged in a double row (LI032-003----). They may have originally formed the western side of the large imperfect circle, having been removed from thence when the road was being made. There is also in the same field a large cup-shaped depression about 210 paces in diameter, but whether this is a natural or an artificial production there is not sufficient evidence at present to determine’ (Harkness 1869, 389-90). This cup-shaped depression possibly described the remains of an embanked stone circle (LI032-002----).
In 1895 the monument was described as following; ‘About one hundred and twenty yards north-west of the chief circle [LI032-004001-], at the opposite side of the main road to Limerick, there is a cup-shaped circle [LI032-002----) with a diameter of two hundred and thirty feet. Not a stone is now left in this circle, the last having been taken away about sixty years ago. There are traces of this circle having been formerly surrounded by a rath. An avenue (LI032-003----) bordered on each side with stones much sunk in the ground, of which only thirteen are now left, meets the circle at the north-east side. The avenue is about thirty feet [10m] wide, but it narrows as it approaches the circles, and right in the middle of it, near the circle, there is a stone much buried in the ground. The stones are very irregularly placed, and some have been shifted from their original positions’ (Lynch 1895, 300).
Today the outline of a roughly oval-shaped area (approx. diam. 18m NW-SE; 7m NE-SW) delimited by low orthostats is visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph. The outline of the levelled stone circle immediately to NW is also visible on this aerial photograph. It is unclear if this stone setting represents the kerbing of a robbed out megalithic tomb, or the remains of a stone circle or of a stone lined avenue defining the entrance into the interior of the adjoining embanked stone circle (LI032-002----). Cleary (2015, 51) suggested that this setting of orthostats may be remains of a court tomb based on its characteristic siting (Cooney and Grogan 1994, 64-5).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 18 May 2018

References

Lynch, J. F. 1895 Lough Gur. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 1, 241-258, 289-302.

Cleary, R.M. 2015 Excavation at Grange Stone Circle (B), Lough Gur, Co. Limerick, and a review of the dating. The Journal of Irish Archaeology, 24, 51-77.

Harkness, R. Prof. 1869 The prehistoric antiquities of and around Lough Gur. Quarterly Journal of Science, 388-96.

Cooney, G. and Grogan, E. 1994 Irish prehistory: a social perspective. Bray. Wordwell.