Smallest wedge tomb I have seen in a long time, condition, reasonable
bogman
Correct GPS co-ordinates for Drumanone are
53.97019 N
08.35432 W
Otherwise you will find yourself at the other side of the railway line
The coordinates given are incorrect, it is almost impossible to find as in the middle of a very wooded area, you need to turn right inside the gate and walk about 100m before heading perpendicular to the road
Correct GPS co-ordinates are
53.93443 N
08.51391 W
On my must visit list, too late to make it this time, may take up to 90 minutes to climb the mountain, when weather is good its possible to see Loop head in Co. Clare from the fort
Locals were a good help directing me to this, continue up the unpaved track just beyond the yard full of old vehicles, take the gate to the left and continue all the way to the end of the field, the portal is just about visible, almost hidden in the gorse, looks like it hadn’t been visited in a long time, cleared a path around the tomb
Exact location
52.25.44.3 N 06.38.12.7 W
Two standing stones at the end of a stony pathway beyond a water treatment plant, please close the gates, the stones are adjacent to each other next to a lovely lake with beautiful scenery, very secluded settings
This lies just off a track accessed next to an abandoned farmhouse on the the main road, make sure to close all the gates, if you continue another 1.5km to the end of the track its reasonably easy to find Boloona Wedge tomb about 500m distant
Difficult to find unless you know where to look, take the narrow boreen to the right just beyond a farmhouse, continue for around 300m and before the track veers 90 degrees the wedge tomb lies to the right just behind a high ditch (you can just about make out the capstone but it barely resembles one) very overgrown
Closed for business unless you want to make a telephone call and organise a viewing, not to worry, plenty to see nearby
Magheracar is perched almost right at the edge of a small cliff and risks being washed away by a big storm at any time, very fragile indeed
Two fine sites a few minutes apart by car, again both well signposted with easy access and good parking
This gem of a site lies less than one km from the more well known Bocan stone circle, a local pointed it out to me and it was of the highlights of my two week trip to the north west, access again is no problem here
Stunning location less than a mile from Claggan Court tomb (thanks for the land owner there for informing me about this site) Tory island is visible from the top of the hill, spent two hours relaxing here, wonderful place and as with the court tomb down the road, easy access
Founded by Saint Connell in the 6th century the island of Inishkeel is accessible by foot at low tide, Inishkeel lies just off the village of Naran, you should have about two and three hours to walk around here before the island gets cut off again, the site in question lies near the sandbar at the east side of the island.
The site contains the ruins of two churches, a walled graveyard with some wonderful carved slabs and stones
[Sorry Bogman. Although interesting this is rather too modern for TMA unless you can give it some prehistoric provenance.
TMA Ed.]
This 18 foot tall square pillar is visible for a good distance and is located in an old graveyard 2 miles outside Ballycastle and is pre Christian
Unlike Castletown E 300m distant this site lies largely under the peat most of the exposed parts are about 4 inches over the ground, took me 45 mins to find, actual co_ordinates are 54.28763 N and 09.28374W, 3 court tombs are very close to each other with good parking and are easy to get to
The second most neglected megalith that I have seen in this country, what a disgrace
In the graveyard in Craughaun, there was a wedge tomb called the Ballinphunta dolmen. Due to the extension of the graveyard, the tomb was excavated in 1990 by a group led by Brian Hodkinson. However, they only found pieces of modern pottery. FÁS workers erected a replica of this tomb in the new section of the graveyard.
limerickdioceseheritage.org/Cratloe/gyCratloe.htm
Progress.............not!
This single stone is about 200m N/W from the nearby group of 3
Tired and cold by the time I got here, after a motorcycle rally last night, that combined with having visited a few other sites earlier and also having a chest infection stopped me from staying longer, a local farmer took me to the site in his car when he noticed me walking up the track, observed that this site was possibly completely covered by stones in the past like a cairn, the farmer agreed saying that in the past a lot of ditches in the locality were made years ago by these, strange site, never saw the like, in places it looks like there is a double stone circle surrounding the monument, beautiful views, will return during the summer to this strange place
According to the land owner this little known souterrain is intact and accessible, located just off a track and easy to find, or miss if you are not careful :-)
There are two wedge tombs side by side here, one is collapsed and very ruinous
Located over a wall just behind Fanyglavin wedge tomb
Wedge tomb is located within a ring/stone fort
Local Farmer Willie Keher took me to this site when he came across me on a pathway on his property, we had a good chat, said very few knew of this site and I could add it here, showed me an intact Souterrain closeby
Under pressure to get a ferry to Inis Oírr (Inisheer, Aran Islands) didnt get to the cairn this time, looking forward to it, really impressive from a distance and easy to access
This is in a sad and sorry state
This Stone stands in what seems to be a ring fort and is a very interesting place, access to this track/road is best from the R584 through what at first seems to be private property, there are two sets of gates to go through, make sure these are closed after you, the trail exits at 51.80570 N 09.23999 W and is suitable for cars
Adjacent to some farm buildings and heavy plant this huge stone seem to have been damaged at some stage, it is one of the tallest standing stones I have come across, the owners of the land were happy to let me look at it
I am not sure of the name of this stone, next trip down that way I will check it out and edit the details
99.9% of this field has been recently dug up with a large Hymac and so close to this huge stone im surprised its still standing, access via the gate is a little awkward as a deep dyke has been dug at least on the road side of the field, well worth visiting, didnt get to see Oughtihery W circle this trip
Another wedge tomb with easy access and visible from the road, the area around Bweeng and Mushera is laden with Megaliths
Originally 5 large stones, 4 lay on the ground, just one standing, easy access, later on I saw this mentioned to the Aghinagh Way map, I will find out its proper name and sort that out later
These are easy to find, just inside a gate on the other side of the road and to the left of the wedge tomb and stone circle
This site would clean up if some responsible person would cut the gorse away with a Bushman saw, shame to see these sites so neglected
Possibly the most neglected site I have visited, there appears to be two trees knocked or fallen on the tomb, hardly recognisable as being a megalith, what the hell happened here
According to the owner of the B/B where The Milestone stands these stones in the field next to him were knocked down by farmers over the last few hundred years
Not visible from the main road this is a lovely stone with great views, it is over the brow of the hill, the land owner told me that the inclined stone fell over after a bad spell of wet weather 30 years ago, his father got a JCB and with the help of a few friends re erected it
As you approach this from Ventry drive past the old quarry to the first gate on your right, walk straight up the hill and over two stone ditches, there are some cows here but should not pose a problem, views are stunning from up here.
The landowner a farmer will not entertain visitors to the site unfortunately, these images were taken from the road with a zoom lens on my second visit there, he wants the National monuments to buy a strip of land leading to the site and fence it off, little chance of that im afraid.
This is the only site in the whole country I have been denied access to.
Thought id seen a lot until I visited this yesterday, stunning is all I can say, I was captivated, both by the tomb and the views from the summit, Minard wedge tomb one of the smallest wedge tombs I have visited is only 300m N/W of Puicin an Chairn, Graigue stone less than 1km, Ardmore 3 stone row plus another in the same field less than 1km, Lugnagappul Cairn & 3 Ogham stones about 1.5km and Foheraghmore standing stone about 2km distance, what a place
Site is pretty overgrown but well worth the effort
53.04583 N
09.16747 W
53.03511 N
09.10656 W
Permission to visit needed, farmer was missing but his brother lives across the road close by, a real nice gent, was not too happy about a previous gang that arrived in a minibus, blocked the drive, so he arranged a tractor so that they could not leave before contacting them, saying that he was most pleasant and brought us all the way to the tomb
With a bit of tidying up this would be impressive, the tomb is easy to get to, not far off the roadside but almost completely enclosed in brambles in the middle of a ploughed field what a pity, if this was in France it would be a tourist attraction, If just one person in the Public Works had responsibility for this kind of work our smaller antiquities would be much more presentable in a very short time
Went to the coordinated given last Sunday, spoke to family in house nearest that spot, they knew nothing about this Stone row so I moved on
Checking further tonight I found another possible location 400m to the N/W
Latitude: 51.849867N Longitude: 9.179094W
I will check this out some time soon and report back
This is a very neglected site but worth visiting, it is one field above Knockshanbrittas (A) Wedge Tomb and easy to locate just inside a gate, a wall has been built around it, you can see the remains of an old gate thrown near the tomb, the chamber itself it quite large
Scahanard Wedge tomb, Cairn & Standing stone are in the same field also known as the Bealick
Lackaduv wedge tomb is at the other side of the road on property owned by the same farmer, a very nice gent, loves to chat
Seems there is 3rd Wedge tomb not too far away at
51.96644N 9.0032W I will check this out
Circle is badly in need of a good cleanup
The circle is actually on the other side of the road and not as displayed on the map, next time I will save the exact coordinates.
According to the book “Sacred Ireland” there is an 11 foot pillar stone with a Ballaun up the lane behind the farmhouse just before the circle in Templebryan Monastic enclosure near a small ruined church, I did not get to visit this today
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