In the townland of Carrickacleven there is a little garden and in it there is a rock shaped like a mouth. It is said that there is money under it, and an old woman minding it and there is to be a life lost at the getting of it.
In the same townland there is a house with five big stones and the one on top is said to bear the weight of six tons. A long time ago there were priests and ministers at it and they said there is an old chieftain buried there and all his riches with him in a crock coffin.
Some people came to it one night after they heard what was under it. They dug until they came to a flag that is over the chieftain and they could get no further. So no one ever went near it after that.
From the 1930s Schools Collection of folklore, now being transcribed at Duchas.ie. There is a photo and description in the 1972 Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland but I don’t know how it’s faring now.
Hi Rhiannon. We didn't find the mouth-shaped stone but we did find the tomb. It's faring ok, but overgrown with trees and briars since the 1972 photo. Love the sense of intrigue and warning in the folklore.
Ah Ryaner, what a marvellous secret mossy spot! I do love finding something on the map and tracking it down. I found a super narrow packhorse bridge at the weekend and a nice sunken lane with it, quite local but I'd never been before. But it didn't have the hidden-away mythical quality of an Irish dolmen complete with buried treasure and a chieftain. You are so lucky over there.
Also, can I just say how I still love how this website allows us to bring together disparate bits of information and the fruits of people's fieldtrips. I like it a lot.