Megalithic tomb - passage tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

In lowlying, level pasture, 3m S of a stream, and 120m E of the confluence of the stream with the Fiddaun River. There are good, but not extensive views of the surrounding countryside, with the Ox Mountains defining the skyline to SE.
This passage tomb not shown on the 1837-8 OS 6-inch map, but is shown on the 1922 edition. It was recorded by Herity (1974, 280) as follows: ‘On a low gravel hillock, immediately south of a stream on the west side of the Ox Mountains and 10km south of the Carrowhubbock tombs (SL1, 2), stands a ring of large boulders 21m in diameter with a boulder built chamber in the centre. To the east of the chamber are two matched stones, presumably a passage.’
Inspected in 1995, it consists of a circular, flat-topped rise or mound (diam. c. 30-35m) with broadly sloping sides (H 1.7m to S). On top of the mound, set several meters in from the edge, is a circle (diam. c. 16m) of close-set or contiguous boulders, best preserved on the SW arc. There are several gaps or breaks in the circle, the largest being to N and SE. The boulders (H 0.8-1.1m; circ. 2.5-3m) are irregular or rounded in form; some are set in the ground, others appear to merely rest on it. There are a few displaced stones on the N edge of the mound. A number of large stones protrude from a slight depression in the centre of the circle. These may be part of a chamber. A pair of matched stones (L 0.7m; H 0.4m), set 0.8m apart, stands 1m to E and may represent remnants of a passage, aligned E-W. A dense growth of gorse and brambles impeded inspection.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 4 July 2018

References

Herity, M. 1974 Irish Passage Graves. Dublin. Irish University Press.