Images (6)
Fieldnotes (1)

Images

Image of Coolbuck (Wedge Tomb) by ryaner

Summer in beautiful Fermanagh. 80 metres over the fence on the right is a burial cairn.

Image credit: ryaner

ryaner Jul 5, 2021

Like a dolmen in itself. There is supposed to be another roofstone collapsed into the gallery to the right of this.

Image credit: ryaner

ryaner Jul 5, 2021

Kind of a similar shot to one earlier but included here because of Cloghtogle with the aerials in the distance.

Image credit: ryaner

ryaner Jul 5, 2021

Looking east along the gallery. I love the summer vegetation but it’s covering the sidestones mostly.

Image credit: ryaner

ryaner Jul 5, 2021

Cuilcagh and Belmore mountains in the mist in the distance to the west beyond Enniskillen. The roofstone rests delicately over the rear of the chamber.

Image credit: ryaner

ryaner Jul 5, 2021

Lough Skale off to the north over the rear of the monument.

Image credit: ryaner

ryaner Jul 5, 2021

Articles

Coolbuck

Wedge Tomb

ryaner Jul 20, 2021

The tease that was Mountdrum down the road left us eager for more. This fine wedge tomb is in a boggy field that seems to be experiencing ‘improvements’ – here’s hoping they look after the monument. We pulled up opposite and chatted to the friendly local man doing a bit of gardening. When I told him I would like to visit the tomb in the field he reckoned the owner wouldn’t have a problem, but he was curious: why that one is particular? I really struggled to explain and the best I could do was: because it’s there. He did say that the area is full of this stuff. He wasn’t lying.

Like at Mountdrum, the tomb retains a roofstone at its eastern, back end. I always wonder in situations like this why they left the one stone. It does look cool and dolmen-like. Though it is overgrown at this time of the year, the relatively well preserved gallery is apparent. Again, I was struck by the atmosphere of the place. Foxglove, normally odious bracken, tall grass, even nettles and gorse, all combined to shroud the tomb in nature’s mystery. There is a good amount of cairn material still here and the remains sit smugly into the mound and the wider environment. Lough Skale is 150 metres to the north and is visible from the tomb. Well worth checking out.