Blackrock

Nearest town:
Blessington (3km W)
OS reference:
O009136
OS sheet:
56
Latitude:
53° 9' 48.08 N
Longitude:
6° 29' 28.36 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Blackrock (Wedge Tomb) by ryaner

North-east along the roofless gallery, with Seahan, Seefingan and Kippure in the distance.

Image credit: ryaner
ryaner
ryaner Apr 22, 2014
Image of Blackrock (Wedge Tomb) by ryaner

North-north-west. The tomb still has much of its cairn.

Image credit: ryaner
ryaner
ryaner Apr 22, 2014
Image of Blackrock (Wedge Tomb) by ryaner

Double-walling visible on the south side of the mound.

Image credit: ryaner
ryaner
ryaner Apr 22, 2014

Articles

Blackrock

ryaner
ryaner Apr 22, 2014

I’ve tried to get to this tomb on two previous occasions, defeated both times by the forestry, the lack of detail on the map and the many gated bungaloids. Not today however, the archaeology.ie screenshot landing me right on top of it.

There is a field that comes all the way down from the cairn on top of Lugnagun into the townland of Blackrock. Up through this for about 300 metres, along the old path way and over to the north-east for another 300 metres and there she sits in the corner of the adjacent field.

When Ó Nualláin visited the site in 1989 or 1993, he saw much more of the structure than I could see today. The roofless gallery sits in much of its cairn, but any facade or larger stones are now covered by vegetation and soil, even at this early time of the year. There is evidence of the classic wedge tomb double-walling on the south side of the tomb. The gallery faces just south of west. The cairn is almost a metre and a half high.

From the back of the tomb, the view is dominated by the ridge of Kippure, Seefingan, Corrig and Seahan. Views to the west are of Blessington reservoir.

A kind of a disappointment as I was expecting to see a lot more of the structure, but a good thing that so much more than the usual skeleton remains.

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