Tirnoney

Also known as:
Tirconey and Tirnony
Nearest town:
Moville (43km WNW)
OS reference:
C840017
OS sheet:
8
Latitude:
54° 51' 22.37 N
Longitude:
6° 41' 33.12 W
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Tirnoney

5,000 yr old burial site to give up its secrets

tjj
tjj Oct 16, 2010

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/maghera-tomb-5000yearold-burial-site-to-give-up-secrets-14977234.html

Archaeologists are to dig out a portal tomb in Northern Ireland for the first time in 50 years.
The collapse of Tirnony Dolmen near Maghera has produced a rare opportunity to discover what lies beneath — and exactly how old it is.
Normally portal tombs, which are among the oldest built structures still standing in Northern Ireland, are off limits to excavators and must be preserved.

But after the massive capstone of this portal tomb fell to the ground earlier this year, archaeologists will be able to uncover the secrets it has held for millennia before repairs are carried out.
Tirnony Dolmen is between 5,000 and 6,000 years old, according to Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIIEA) archaeologist Paul Logue.

“After standing in Northern Ireland weather for over 5,000 years some of the tomb’s structural stones have begun to crack, causing the capstone to slip,” he said.
“Before we start to repair the tomb we will excavate it to ensure that the archaeological material associated with it is recorded ahead of restoration work.
“When the tomb was first built it would have been used for interring the bones of selected members of the local stone age community. This could have included men and women, young and old. Finds from inside similar tombs include pottery and flint tools, possibly left as grave goods for use by the dead in the afterlife.
“We hope to find out more about how this tomb was built, when it was built and how it was used.”

Members of the public are invited to come along on Friday afternoons to find out for themselves what has been unearthed. The excavation will also be charted in a blog revealing the latest finds.
Mr Logue said the tomb was originally built by digging out a trench where the upright stones were embedded, packing round these with smaller stones before installing the massive capstone on top of them.
In recent years, the capstone, which weighs between two and a half and three tonnes, had begun to rock, putting pressure on the supporting stones beneath. These then moved, causing the capstone to slide further.

(Acknowledgements to WRAO and Digital Digging for this information)

Folklore

Tirnoney
Portal Tomb
H
Heron Jul 8, 2004

The proper name for this dolman is Tirnoney after the townland its situated in. A townland is a fairly Norn Iron concept of an area of land known by a certian name outside a town.

A bit of folklore associated with the dolman is related to a near by farm house. The house was built by a farming family called Morrison and sits between the dolman and and old church yard called Killelagh church. It can be seen marked on OS maps but is very hard to find on the ground (even for me and I’ve walked all over this area all my life!) as only the raised enclosure remains.

The story goes that when the big farm house was originaly built (18something) that the wife of the farmer saw a carved stone in the old grave yard she thought was very beautiful so she got her husband to put it up as the lintel of the new door. So the stone was dug out and put up.

However once the stone was in place it supposedly screamed for an hour at midnight each night and dripped blood. The wife of the farmer could only take this for a few days before she ordered her husband to take it down and return it to the church yard from whence it came.

To this day the small wood just east of the dolman and farm house is still known localy as Morrisons rock. This is a local story I was told as a child (I live close to the dolman).

Link

Tirnoney
Portal Tomb
Littlestone
Littlestone Oct 23, 2010
The Heritage Journal

“Time and the lack of written record, have tied a tight blindfold between us and prehistory, but occasionally we get the chance of a small nudge in the right direction. Following the recent collapse of its capstone, Tirnony portal tomb, in County Derry, is to be excavated in advance of restoration.”

Sites within 20km of Tirnoney

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