Megalithic tomb - passage tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

Knowth cemetery, Tomb 5. This tomb is located c. 22m SW of the great mound, Tomb 1C, and it is also c. 18m NW of Tomb 4 and c. 12m S of the chamber of Tomb 6. Very little evidence of this tomb remains. It consists of 8 kerbstones, only 2 of which are in situ, but a layer of redeposited boulder clay (max. T c. 0.3m) and some shale that regularly constitutes mound material is present. Some stones that are deposited in nearby drains could have derived from the passage of a tomb. There is no other evidence of the tomb, except that one displaced stone has an incised double chevron, or perhaps a snake, with a small circle and a small rectangle. There is no reconstruction of a mound. (Eogan 1974, 30-4, Site 10; 1984, 39-41, Site 5; 1986, 88-9)

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 10 July 2007
Revised: 16 September 2020

See the attached plans:
_1 Cemetery plan, from Knowth 6, Fig. 2:1;
_2 Tomb plan, from Knowth 1, Fig. 18

References

Eogan, G. and Cleary, K. 2017 Excavations at Knowth 6: The Passage Tomb Archaeology of the Great Mound at Knowth. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin

Eogan, G. 1974 Report on the excavations of some passage graves, unprotected inhumation burials and a settlement site at Knowth, Co Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 74C, 11 – 112.

Eogan, G. 1984 Excavations at Knowth 1. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.

Eogan, G. 1986 Knowth and the passage-tombs of Ireland. London. Thames and Hudson.