tombs ireland

Sadly, land clearance in the 18 or 19th century removed the northern half of the monument, roughly down its central axis, and what can be made out from the obscuring clutter of field-wall stones is the southern half of the eastern forecourt and its accompanying double-chambered gallery, as well as the southern part of the forecourt of the western tomb. Excavations in 1937 revealed a black layer in the eastern forecourt containing burnt bone and pottery sherds, and covering further Neolithic pot...

This court-tomb is unusual in having a forecourt forming almost three-quarters of a circle, with the largest stones near the end of the 'horns'. The court gave access to a now roofless three-chambered burial gallery, of which that next the entrance was not used for burials. Excavations in 1962 showed the end-chamber to have been undisturbed and to contain cremated bone as well as a curious dark brown layer which has been encountered in other ulster court-tomb excavations. Unexpectedly, these c...

A wedge-tomb with a long rectangular chamber still consisting of ten upright stones covered by three capstones. Portions of the original kerb-stones surrounding the mound of covering stones still survive, though nothing remains of the mound itself....

It has a more than semicircular stone-paved forecourt, in which stone axes were found. Portals lead into the roofless burial chamber, placed in a long stone-revetted mound. Excavations in 1935 and again in 1975 showed that behind the chambered burial gallery there was a passage, originally timber-roofed, containing pits but also much cremated bone, suggesting that - unusually - the passage may well have been the location of the crematorium itself. A number of Neolithic pottery sherds and flin...

A large well-preserved court-tomb with a more than semicircular forecourt formed of large boulders, and located on a ridge 700 feet high with a fine view ofer the Bann valley. Behind the forecourt is a broad burial-gallery of two separate chambers, with one set of jambs immediately inside the portal stones and a further set dividing the gallery which still carry their ponderous capstone. The kerb of the mound is still well defined by upright stones, and within it - and behind the chamber - is...

This picturesquely situated wedge-tomb preserves many of the classic features of the type. The tapered form is well defined, as is the double walling of the segmented gallery, partially covered by a large flat roof-slab. A door-stone closes the tomb entrance, which faces west. There is some indication of the existence of a cairn. The monument stands by the roadside at the north-east corner of Lough Nahaltora and was in the past resorted to as a holy well by local people.
Wedge-tombs were...

Rising like a bird about to take off from the karst limestone of the Burren, it attracts by its timeless simplicity, and consists of a very few upright stones (including, now, a necessary modern replacement) supporting a large flat capstone which rises from the back towards the front of the tomb. It is surrounded by a low mound, largely made up of stones, but it seems unlikely ever to have covered the whole monument. Disarticulated bones of 16 adults and children, equally divided between the s...

Queen Maeve, the famous and fiery legendary Queen of Connacht, is said to have been buried in this great mound of stones 35 feet high and 200 feet in diameter, which is situated on the top of a hill with a magnificent view all around Co. Sligo. The mound probably hides a Passage-tomb underneath. Nearby are a number of rather ruined 'satellite' tombs, like those in the Boyne Valley....

Carrowkeel, in the Bricklieve hills, is an ancient cemetery of circular mounds dating from the late Stone Age (2500-200BC).

There are some splendid views from the exposed hilltop site....

One of the most aesthetically satisfying megalithic structures of the Irish countryside, a 4,000 year-old Neolithic tomb that might equally be a work of modern sculpture. If proof were needed that Stone Age man built his monuments to impress as well as to last, then here it is. Its rugged geometry has long been admired, and illustrations of it have appeared in innumerable publications as well as in television commercials promoting tourism and butter. It was Fergusson who coined the term 'tripo...