The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Knockroe

Passage Grave

Fieldnotes

20/7/07

What at first seems like a chaotic, rubble-strewn disaster, soon reveals itself to be an intriguing jigsaw puzzle of the remains of a passage grave mound. At the end of a farm track and fenced in by barbed wire, access is easy over the farm gate here. I met the former owner of the site (before it was taken over by the board of works) who told me that I had just missed Muiris O'Súillebháin, head of the school of Archaeology at UCD, who is still excavating the mound. In fact the farmer at first thought I was part of O'Súillebháin's entourage – how flattering, but I suppose it goes to show how little visited this place is.
I don't know too much about this place except what I've read on Megalithomania ( http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/149 ), but I can say that's its passage grave art is a thrill to behold. Spirals, concentric circles and cup marks are found in abundance in the western passage. One of the southern kerbstones is clearly carved with what Eogan calls serpentiform and Brennan calls wavy lines. The kerbstones are all fairly large and most have collapsed, some back into the mound.
The quartz strewn forecourts are a bit of a puzzle as there is one on the southern side that doesn't denote the entrance to a passage but could have been a ceremonial area in itself. I've tried to find a plan of the site but have failed so far.

Knockroe – Cnoc Rua – Red (sandstone?) Hill
ryaner Posted by ryaner
26th July 2006ce

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