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County Wicklow
Seefin HillChambered Cairn
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Sites in this group:
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7 posts
Seefin 2 Rocky Outcrop |
Sites of disputed antiquity:
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4 posts
Seefin Rock Shelter Cave / Rock Shelter |
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Fieldnotes |
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12/5/07 The clearance of the chamber continues. Last time I was here (24/12/06) I had to lay flat and shimmy down from the rubble in the chamber to get access into the passage. Not any more. The entrance has been cleared, exposing the sillstone that separates chamber from passage. Even more of the roof rubble has been cleared from the chamber itself, revealing more of the giant capstone and some more of the collapsed corbelling. All this moving of stones, while it exposes more of the chamber, cannot be good for the structure. The collapse of the roof had settled for god knows how many years and seems to have supported parts of the chamber that may well collapse if any more is removed. Some of the lintels and roofstones around the chamber entrance are looking in a very precarious condition. While the clearing of the stones opens up the monument that bit more, the inexpert nature of the 'excavation' doesn't instill confidence. Lighting fires on the old capstone can't help either. |
Posted by ryaner14th May 2007ce |
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I guess I had a sort of coming of age today 5/9/06 on Seefin. The fragility of the tomb had never been clearer. Standing at the back of the tomb in a full force gale, I realised the slow erosion that the wind alone could cause to the rocks over thousands of year. Add to that rain, snow, frost, hail and occasional strong sunshine and it's a wonder that so much of it has survived. For how much longer? Well, the passage seems to have deteriorated further since I was last here 2 months ago. Maybe I hadn't noticed it before, but there is a gaping hole about a metre and a half deep and the same in height in the eastern wall about 5 metres from the entrance. Cairn material is falling into the passage from this. There's another, less serious, in the wall opposite. Rain is seeping into the passage itself and puddles are collecting on the floor. The hole above the chamber shows major human interference. Some clown has used cairn material to bulid a wall around the lip of the hole. They've used the covering rocks of the cairn and dug down about a metre into the cairn itself, exposing the underneath. The western recess shows signs of someone having performed some sort of ritual, with a lot of the roof rubble removed, and some of the 'newer' quartz stone from the exposed cairn formed into some sort of 'altar'. The slight remains of the firepack on the rock beside the sill/entrance stone that I saw 2 months ago should be well gone by now, but alas no: there's even more ashes there now. I headed down off the hill more depressed than angry. |
Posted by ryaner 6th September 2006ce |
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15/6/06 This was my third visit to Seefin Hill in as many months and was quite an eye-opener. Should you happen this way, I would urge you to allow yourself at least half a day here. There is much to see on Seefin, and not just the main tomb, though your time would not be wasted if you devoted all of it to this relatively well-preserved monument. On this day I gave myself more time than usual to explore some of the curious sites on the western ascent. There are many and various rock outcrops here. Sorting through them, cataloging them and understanding them would take more time and more expertise than I have. However, I am convinced that there are many traces of human activity here, whether they be neolithic, bronze age or more modern. It's actually quite a diverting way to pass what can be a sometimes strenuous climb. Arriving at the tomb itself is always a relief. That such an example of this type of grave is perched here, high up and far from the madding crowd, brings a joy and peace to the spirit. I've met people the three times I've been up here but none of them were very interested in the significance of the site. This time, however, I came across some activity that left me more than a bit perturbed. Someone had taken the trouble to bring a ready-made fire pack up with them and had used the sill stone as their fire base. Desecration may be too heavy a word, but that they didn't bother to clean up after them was annoying. This got me to thinking about preservation and conservation of the tomb. The access through the portal stones is quite difficult. I'm not of that heavy a build, but I still need to almost lie down and wriggle head first through the wider gap at the ground level. It seems that most if not all prefer to enter through the collapsed roof of the chamber. This is further degrading the perilous condition of this area and it seems that as time goes by more and more of the upper cairn material is falling in here. (I'm always aware when talking about this that I would hate to see some sort of regimen put in place that limits access to this site. The balance between conservation and access is a frustrating one to achieve. Besides, part of the beauty of this site is the free and easy access and the possibility of having a passage tomb in relatively good condition all to yourself.) On entering through the portal stones you may experience a slight claustrophobia. The passage is quite narrow with some of the orthostats tilting inwards. Check out the base of the third one on your right for the faint diamond/lozenge carving. I've never brought a torch, relying on the camera flash to reveal glimpses of the structure of the passage (this adds to the slow revelation of the tomb to me. You may prefer the torch method. I live just a ten minute drive from the base of the mountain.) Limited to my method of survey I've not had much joy in studying the roof of the passage, but camera shots have revealed an intricate series of stones. I read somewhere recently that there is a christian cross carved on one of the roofstones but haven't felt the need to look for it. My favourite part of the tomb is on the left of the entrance to the chamber. The colours of the corballed stones here, revealed by the camera flash, are beautiful. It's quite difficult to manouevere here as this is where the roof rubble begins. I've lain down on my back and wriggled around on my front in a bid to get better shots here. The pile of rubble gets steeper as you make your way into the centre of the chamber. Two of the recesses are visible but contain quite a bit of rubble. Moss covers a lot of the walls in both. You could, were you agile enough, sidle your way down into the recesses. The worn beauty of the roof stones here is similar to that of the chamber entrance. I've thought that I'd love to see this cleared out to check for carvings. Surveying the lips of the roof hole it's easy to see the continuing degradation of the tomb. At times the whole structure seems on the verge of collapse. I've tried to not use this as an entrance or exit but it's too tempting. Around the south-eastern edge of the tomb you can see the original kerbstones, about 2 metres away from the cairn pile. These curve back into the cairn itself on the south side. From over the hole in the roof, aligning yourself with the passage by sighting on the entrance, the views across to Seahan are great. From this position, sister Seefingan is away to your right. Seefin is my favourite place bar none on my new megalithic odyssey. However, from my last experiences here I would be quite a bit worried about the integrity of the site. I wonder when the last time an officer from the Office of Public Works was up here. |
Posted by ryaner 17th June 2006ce |
Latest posts for Seefin Hill |
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Seefin Rock Shelter (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Fieldnotes |
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On the way down from the tomb on the top of the hill I encountered this place. It's deeper into the land marked as the rifle range than I have cared to venture previously, west-north-west of the tomb. The stone overhang protrudes quite proudly outwards and the depth of the recess impressed me. At first I didn't see the deep cup/bullaun mark on the stone outside the shelter. It is fairly obviously man-made. This may or may not be a more 'modern' site on the hill. It struck me as a place of shelter that could have been used by shepherds in the more recent past, but may have a more ancient significance. The light was fading as I was descending so I didn't have much time to investigate. I will return here soon. |
Posted by ryaner 17th June 2006ce |
Seefin Rock Shelter (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Images (click to view fullsize) |
  
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Posted by ryaner 17th June 2006ce |
Seefin 2 (Rocky Outcrop) — Images |
     
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Posted by ryaner 1st June 2006ce |
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