This area has become very famous because of the TV series filmed at Ardross Castle- The Traitors. From Baldoon I headed west on the minor road and followed it to Ardross Church, now an arts venue with a superb acoustic. The small houses behind are called the Mains of Dublin, men from the Ireland who built the nearby castle lived in these. Just to the north west of these houses the chamber cairn sits in a field.
As usual in these parts it's of the Orkney Cromarty type, most of the chamber stones are here, sadly they have been joined by some rubble. Most of the nearby dykes have probably been made with stones from the site.
Still it is situated in a glorious location and has many near neighbours of similar type. Don't worry you won't see any of the nearby TV people - it's to cold and muddy for them.
In effecting some improvements, a few years ago, on the farm of Ardross, it was found necessary to remove one of these cairns; but the people had a tradition that "the plague was buried under it," and refused to touch it; and it was with no small difficulty, that they were at length induced to assist in its removal.
This extract from the Rosskeen chapter of the 1834-45 Statistical Account could refer to Carn Na Feinne (which is certainly near Ardross), but I guess even if not, it gives an idea of local beliefs about cairns. There's not much of it left - just the thick slabs of sandstone and schist that made up the chamber.
In some of the cairns which were removed, sculls and bones of a very large size were found. One of these cairns bears the name of Carna nam Fiann, i.e. the cairn of the Fingalians.
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Posted by drewbhoy
Posted by Rhiannon
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