Megalithic tomb - wedge tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

Wedge tomb described by the Megalithic Survey of Ireland as following; 'This monument lies about 8 km.to the east of Lough Gur and is some 5 km northeast of the village of Hospital. It is situated on a steep flat-topped ridge of pasture land some 300m below the summit of Cromwell Hill (586 ft.). The site commands extensive outlooks, to the south-east where the Galty Mountains form the skyline, and to the north and west across the fertile lowlands of northern Co. Limerick. The tomb is fairly well preserved. It consists of the remains of a gallery flanked, at the north, by a number of outer-wall stones. A large stone stands isolated at the eastern end of the structure and it is not clear whether this represents the end of the gallery or the back of the outer-wall. One roofstone lies across the gallery orthostats and another rests in an inclined position within. A number of displaced slabs lie at the western end of the structure. Some traces of mound are present along the northern side and at the eastern end of the tomb.
The more westerly orthostat on the southern side of the monument is outside the line
of the other three orthostats at this side. Its function is not clear but it is possible that it is an outer-wall stone. It measures 0.9m by 0.8m and is 1m high. Immediately to the north of this is a slab which has fallen, outwards. This may be a collapsed septal-stone. It is 2.1m long, 0.3m thick and, if erect, would be 0.9m high. To the north of this, again, is another prostrate slab which measures 2.9m by 1.25m and is 0.75m thick. It may be a sidestone of a portico.
The more westerly of the three sidestones on the southern side of the gallery measures 1.2m long, 0.4m thick and 1.15m high. Its top edge slopes downwards from west to east. The stone next to this is 0.85m long, 0.4m thick and 0.95m high and the third stone is 1.70m long, 0.4m thick and 1.1m high. The northern side of the gallery is represented by two orthostats. That at the west measures 2m long, 0.65m thick and 1m high. It is supported, at the west, by a stone measuring 0.75m by 0.2m and 0.5m high. The second sidestone is 1.25m long, 0.4m thick and 1m high. Two superimposed stones lie at its eastern end. The lower stone measures at least 0.8m by 0.7m and is 0.15m thick. The stone above this has fallen to the south and may be a collapsed sidestone. It measures 0.6m by 0.2m and, if erect, would be 0.6m, high. The large orthostat at the eastern end of the monument is 1.5m long, 0.35m thick and 1m high.
The inclined roofstone at the western end of the gallery rests against the sidestone. It measures 1.9m by 1m and is 0.3m thick. Beneath it is a partly concealed displaced stone, 1.3m in maximum dimension. The eastern roofstone rests, in a level position, on all five orthostats. It is 1.5m long (E-W), 1.7m wide (N-S) and 0.4m thick.
The outer-wall, at the north, is represented by three orthostats. The stone at the west is 0.7m long, 0.25m thick and is exposed to a height of 0.2m and the stone next to this is 0.6m long, 0.3m thick and 0.35m of its height is exposed. The third stone is 0.4m long, 0.4m thick and 0.9m high. Three displaced stones lie around the orthostat at the south-western corner of the structure. The largest, at the south, is 2m in maximum dimension and 0.2m thick. That to the east is 1.1m in maximum dimension and 0.25m thick and the other is 1.1m in maximum dimension and 0.3m thick.
The overall length of the gallery was at least 5.2m but if it extended as far as the orthostat at the eastern end of the structure it would have been 6.65m long. It is 1.6m wide at the west and narrows to 1.45m at the east'.

See linked document with details from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume IV. Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1982)

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 25 February 2020

See attached ASI aerial photograph ASIAP - 133/09 taken 23/08/2000.

References

O'Kelly, M.J. 1942-3 A survey of the antiquities in the barony of Small County, Co. Limerick. North Munster Antiquarian Journal 3, 75-97, 169-84, 222-46.

ASIAP - Archaeological Survey of Ireland Aerial Photographs (c. 1996 - c. 2010).

Borlase, W.C. 1897 The Dolmens of Ireland, 3 vols. London. Chapman and Hall.

de Valera, R. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1982 Survey of the megalithic tombs of Ireland. Vol. IV, Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary. Dublin. Stationery Office.