Kind of underwhelming, though interesting to note the changing environment over the time since Nucleus was here.
Kind of underwhelming, though interesting to note the changing environment over the time since Nucleus was here.
The larger wedge tomb in Marblehill townland has been cleared and is well worth checking out.
Inside the chamber – the monument would not have been the biggest of its type.
The stone on the left here is a portal stone m, I believe.
South over the chamber towards Cregg Hill, now being quarried to oblivion.
Compare this shot to those of Bawn posted here and you’ll understand what the owner’s son meant when he told us it was ‘in the way’.
There are quite a few fallen stones covered by the grass in the gaps of the ring.
Referred to both as a stone circle and a ring cairn, Cartron South is quite exceptional either way.
The circle stones can be seen to the right of the tree.
There are the remains of quite a decent dual court tomb in amongst the tangle of brambles and all the rest of it. Given that court tombs this far south are a rarity, you might think this specimen would be better looked after. Alas, you, like I, would be wrong.
Looking out, south-east, from the backstone of the south-eastern tomb.
Across the two lateral chambers of the cruciform south-east tomb.
The western portal stone, 3.55 metres tall, is seen to lean in quite substantially in this shot, to the point where the capstone now rests on it and the doorstone/septal stone. The doorstone, at 3.08 metres tall, is a good deal shorter than either of the portals.
The point where the massive capstone rests on the subsidiary or secondary roofstone.
The eastern portal stone is 3.59 metres, or just under 12 feet in old money, tall. We speculated how much is underground and reckoned there would need to be at least a third of its overall height. However, as this shot shows, the capstone has slipped somewhat and the eastern portal no longer bears any of its weight.
Looking south – Matthewstown is messy but adorable still.
The concrete and breeze-block wall that holds up the rear of the capstone.
Both portal stones are missing and the capstone rests rather inelegantly on the doorstone.
The front of Knockeen. What a magnificent marvel of megalithic magic!
The back of Knockeen. The concrete lump here is dumped on the boundary wall and it plays no reinforcing role in the tomb.
At the entrance to the parallel galleries at Cloghanmore. The rain, a seeming regular companion here, beat us back to the car way too soon.
In a deluge, from behind the parallel galleries towards the massive court.
The stone in the foreground here is said to be the backstone of the gallery of an east facing court tomb. You’d never tell, but this end contains the best of what remains.
Looking west down along the shambles that used to be a small court tomb.
What is thought the be the base of the walls of a limekiln lies in the middle of the scant remains here.
The stone in the middle of this shot is a covering lintel over what seem to be two segmenting jambstones. The tomb is overall a wrecked mess.
Plan of the six tombs taken from the Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume 6, County Donegal. See the recent link posted to TMA for free downloads of all these amazing books.