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Portal Tomb
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This was Vicky's favourite site of the day. I must admit, the journey up there did help; having to risk the electric fence (switched off!) and the hounds howling in the distance made for an exhilirating few minutes..... and then, when we saw the huge capstone before us, in amongst the gorse, it was incredible. Vicky spotted a fox, running into the gorse which made things even more fantastic!
Having been at Browne's Hill a couple of hours earlier and being slightly disappointed by the atmosphere of the place, this was just perfect. I like having to make an effort to see a site and the fact that this beautiful portal tomb is siutated in what feels like a wilder, unvisited landscape made the whole thing seem that much more impressive. The capstone is massive and has a "head", almost serpent-like. Andy said that it has been described as sphynx-like and I really could see the connection.
We explored for a good while and then Andy took us over to some stones which he believed had some markings on them. It was bit of a hairy climb up, trying to get all three of us balanced on the stones below but when Andy pointed out the stone in question, it was worth it. A definite pattern of chevrons was carved into the rock edge and continued on the other side. It was pertty hard to see because of the way the rocks have been dumped by land clearance but it was definitely there.
This is an awe-inspiring place; once again I had to wonder at the ingenuity (or madness) of the people who engineered the massive capstone into place on the dolmen and the fact that it is still intact.This post appears as part of the weblog entry VVXX Phase 3 - Ireland |
Posted by Vicster
16th August 2006ce
Edited 21st August 2006ce
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