Megalithic tomb - passage tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

Knowth cemetery, Tomb 21. Eogan (1984, 159) references the OS Name Book (1836) which records that 'In front of Miss Maguire's house are two upright stones about 6 feet high overgrown with ivy which may have been a Cromlech or a Tomb in the centre of a Cairn similar to those opened in Dowth parish. The plan of the stones is L. They are so much covered in ivy that a passer-by would suppose the whole to be only an Ivy bush.' The present farmhouse was built about 1860-70 and the stones may have been cleared away at that time. A later plan by Eogan (2017, Fig. 2:47) suggests that the tomb may have been further E, so its precise location is not known. (Herity 1967, 141)
Archaeological monitoring (E004327) of a N-S service trench in the farmyard during 2010 (excavations.ie 2011:486) and of an E-W service trench (L c. 74m) just S of Knowth House in 2012 (excavations.ie 2012:464) produced no evidence of it.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 27 February 2014
Amended: 18 September 2020, 19 March 2021

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. 1984 Excavations at Knowth 1. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.

Herity, M. 1967 From Lhuyd to Coffey: new information from unpublished descriptions of the Boyne Valley tombs. Studia Hiberica 7, 127-45.