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Image of Tibradden (Chambered Cairn) by Rhiannon

Does this cast doubt on Fitzcoraldo’s sceptical source? Assuming I have the right spot. “On the top of Tibradden Mountain, which rises to the west of the Two Rock, and is near Glencullen, there is a curious cairn, in which was found a small sepulchral vessel, now to be seen in the Irish antiquities section of the Kildare street Museum. This cairn is still in fair preservation and offers a good example of what may be called a “small giant’s grave.” The climb up Tibradden (properly – Ti-braddan, Braddan’s House) is rather trying, owing to the soft ground and thick gorse, but it is well worth while making the ascent, not only in order to inspect the cairn, but also for the sake of the view, which is one of the finest near Dublin. The cairn, of which a drawing is given, consists of a shallow passage lined with stones leading to a vaulted chamber in a mound, in which is a circle of stone.” In the Weekly Irish Times, 23rd January 1904.

Image credit: JWP
Image of Tibradden (Chambered Cairn) by ryaner

A montage of Tibradden Cairn looking North with Dublin City in the background

Image credit: Ryaner

Articles

Miscellaneous

Tibradden
Chambered Cairn

“It would now appear that Tibradden, in County Dublin, often acclaimed as a genuine Passage Grave, is in fact a 19th century folly of rather a special kind. Before the excavation of the site by the National Monuments Branch of the Office of Public Works in Ireland, it was thought that the barrow on Tibradden Mountain contained a dry-walled Passage Grave of classic form, and that in the centre of the circular chamber there had been found, in 1849, a megalithic cist containing a food-vessel and cremated bones. Before the clearance work done by Mr Marcus O Hochaidhe three years ago (1956) the site had indeed the semblance of a filled-in Passage Grave, but now that it is open down to ground level this sembalance is revealed as accidental. The whole construction of the passage and chamber walls is uncharacteristic of the megalithic builders, and around the inside of the chamber is a stone bench. The excavator is of the opinion that the passage and chamber were built in the mid-19th century, and we may imagine visitors sitting on the stone seat admiring the central cist.”

Glyn Daniel
Some Megalithic Follies
Antiquity 33
1959

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