Megalithic tomb - portal tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture. Annotated ‘Cromlech’ on 1940 ed. OSi 6-inch map where it is depicted standing immediately NE of field boundary with farmhouse to NW. Recorded by Lynch (1910, 111-12) as follows; ‘Borlase states that in the Barony of Coshlea, Townland of Barna and Parish of Galbally, a Cromleac is marked on Ord. Surv. Map No. 50. I had a search made for this Cromleac and find that it has disappeared. The covering stone would appear to have been the last to remain. My correspondent states that “up to about four years ago [c. 1906] it stood about 600 yards [550m] from the public road at the end of the passage to a farm house. It was a large stone, sufficient to afford shelter to ten men from the rain. About that time the sons of the farmer blasted it and used it for draining purposes”. Comment on this act of vandalism is needless’.
The Megalithic Survey of Ireland (De Valera and Ó Nualláin 1982, 79) recorded that; ‘It was not described in the earlier documents of the [OS] survey and its nature is uncertain. The O.S. name book for the 1901 edition records its destruction: “This has been blasted and has not the appearance of a cromlech. It stands on a fence and slightly inclines over the road. When this road was made this cromlech was disturbed and a portion of it broken up and used for metalling the road" '.
Described in 1999 as no surface remains visible of Cromlech and the road has been widened. In the field to the NE, the ASI described a possible collapsed standing stone (dims. 1.2m N-S; 0.6m E-W, D 0.3m) that was partly buried, roughly rectangular in shape and orientated NNW-SSE. Recumbent stone visible on Digital Globe orthoimage taken between 2011-13 and Google Earth orthoimages.

See attached sketch plan surveyed and drawn by ASI and Google Earth orthoimage

Compiled by: Fiona Rooney

Date of upload: 4 November 2021

References

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.

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

Lynch, J. F. 1909-11 Cromleacs in Co. Limerick. North Munster Antiquarian Journal 1, 30-5, 108-16.

Lynch, P.J. 1905-8 Cromlechs in Co. Limerick. Journal of the Limerick Field Club 3, 15-17, 54-7, 127-33, 217-68.