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ryaner

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Ravensdale Park

Travelling around megalithic Ireland a couple or three questions of the imagined tomb-wreckers have frequently arisen: If you’re going to destroy one of these ancient sites, why not obliterate and eradicate it totally? Why leave the scant remnants, the vague outline, of what once was? Is it because mid-destruction you got visited by some phantom in your bed that made you desist? In the end, it’s possible that you got from here what you came for and sated you said fuckit, leave what’s left and who cares? It’s always puzzling – the disrespect shown is sometimes total, and those sites are lost forever, but it’s at places like here in Ravensdale where enough remains to intrigue and tantalise.

I’ll quote in full the description from the Louth Inventory (copyright Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991): “This court-tomb has suffered considerable damage by blasting, and drill holes for dynamite are visible in a number of shattered stones. It consists of a roughly trapezoidal cairn orientated NNE-SSW, incorporating at its N end the inner end of a broad court and the scant remains of a gallery. The N limit of the court is defined by a facade stone at the W, indicating overall court dimensions of about 5.5m deep by 7m wide. Eight stones mark the inner end of the court, four at the W and three at the E. Two of these form the entrance jambs to the gallery which had at least two chambers. The N chamber 3m long and about 1.5m wide, is delimited by two side stones at the W and one at the E. This is separated from the rest of the gallery by a pair of jambs. Beyond these the continuation of the gallery is represented by a single orthostat at the E side and there is no back stone. A field fence curves around the N and W sides of the monument.”

Blasting? Dynamite? So post 1866 then, and more likely well into the 20th century. We’ve heard of this before, in Carrowkeel, but there’s doubts about that. There it was said to be part of the excavation, far-fetched maybe; here it seems that it was simple destruction and the re-use of the stones and antiquarian niceties be-damned. And yet, as mentioned above, they left us what’s here, unprotected as it is. Bizarre.

The small charms of the court with its almost symmetrical arms; the entrance jambs; behind those their chamber segmenting twins, all speak of a classic multi-chambered gallery, unmistakably an ancient burial place. Almost total wreckage of court tombs is quite common in North Louth and the Cooley peninsula it seems. Contrast that with the near complete tombs Ballymacdermot, Clontygora and Annaghmare in neighbouring county Armagh. I’ve been around these parts a lot in the last few years but had always been put off by that Inventory note but I have to say I’m glad to have finally bit the bullet. It’s not that bad of a site compared to others around, just that you wish they hadn’t trashed the place so badly.

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Grange Irish (Court Tomb)

There’s not much positive to say here, except that I’m glad I made the effort. The main remains of the tomb, a photo of which can be seen in the Archaeological Survey of County Louth, are in danger of being lost forever in a dense tangle of hazel, bramble and scrub vegetation.

The plan in the above mentioned book shows an interesting court tomb, with a main single-chambered gallery and three lateral chambers, these last being the only remains in any way visible. Shame really, and not unexpected, but disappointing all the same.

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Image of Grange Irish (Court Tomb) by ryaner

Grange Irish (Court Tomb)

Court Tomb

The stones at the foreground left are part of one of three lateral chambers towards the rear of the tomb, the main remains of which are completely inundated by dense vegetation and are in danger of being lost forever.

Image credit: ryaner

Farmer says he thought 4,000-year-old axeheads were 'scrap'

A farmer in Co Westmeath has said he thought 4,000-year-old Early Bronze Age axeheads found in his field were old horse ploughs, or scrap.

Thomas Dunne said the discovery was made after a piece of machinery fell off during silage cutting on his field in Coralstown.

The National Museum of Ireland issued an appeal earlier this month, after the axeheads were sent anonymously to the museum at the end of June.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, Mr Dunne said: “We were cutting silage in a field when I felt a piece of steel come off the mower.

“We were afraid it would go into something else, so we got a man with metal detector to go and look for it.

“He found these under a row of beech trees. “We thought they were just bits of old horse ploughs or scrap. We could have thrown them back into the ditch the very same!”

More: rte.ie/news/regional/2024/0725/1461785-axe-heads/

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Museum appeals for information on anonymously donated Bronze Age axeheads

The National Museum of Ireland has issued an appeal after 4,000-year-old Early Bronze Age axeheads were sent anonymously to the museum at the end of June.

The sender had fashioned packaging from a cardboard box of Flahavans Flapjacks with foam inserts inside cut to the exact size of the axeheads, each one smaller than the palm of a person’s hand.

They were accompanied by a letter stating they were discovered in the Westmeath area using a metal detector.

The museum has dated the axeheads to around 2150-2000 BC.

The sender said they wished for the axeheads to be conserved by the Museum but did not provide any contact details or further specifics.

The museum said the axeheads were “thoughtfully packed in foam cut-outs and cardboard, ensuring their safe arrival.”

More: rte.ie/news/2024/0713/1459683-national-museum-axeheads/

From the National Museum:
museum.ie/en-IE/News/Appeal-for-information-about-Bronze-Age-Axeheads-F

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Image of Duntryleague (Passage Grave) by ryaner

Duntryleague

Passage Grave

The collapsing backstone of the main chamber leans in towards the viewer, remaining partially upright because it’s tightly caught by the sidestone on the right. The padstone presses down on the backstone and, in turn, is struggling under the weight of the main roofstone, the whole shebang delicately poised and in danger of complete collapse.

Image credit: ryaner
Image of Duntryleague (Passage Grave) by ryaner

Duntryleague

Passage Grave

The 2.2 metre long, almost floating roofstone covering the front of the main chamber and the end of the passage. It’s held there magnificently by the weight of the rear roofstone pressing downward, balancing its rear delicately there on a couple of chamber sidestones.

Image credit: ryaner
Image of Duntryleague (Passage Grave) by ryaner

Duntryleague

Passage Grave

The rear of the chamber is roofed by a 2.2 metre long slab. It rests on a padstone to the left and the other main chamber roofstone to the right. This delicate balancing act is a neolithic wonder but is probably not original as the heavy stones seem to have shifted with the removal of the surrounding cairn.

Image credit: ryaner
Image of Duntryleague (Passage Grave) by ryaner

Duntryleague

Passage Grave

The rear of the tomb, showing, from the top, the chamber roofstone, a padstone resting in the (deliberately carved) shoulder of the eastern, rear sidestone and the backstone that leans inwards and would probably collapse if it wasn’t being held up by the western rear sidestone. The massive rear roofstone leans on the top of the back of the second roofstone, visible here just off centre.

Image credit: ryaner