Boulder-burial in Killowen

In level pasture, to the N of Kenmare Bay. A stone circle (KE093-018----) was indicated here on the 1846 OS 6-inch map, enclosing a central stone. The central stone appears to have had a cupmark on its upper surface as depicted in a sketch from the 1842 OS Memoranda, County Kerry, which is reproduced by Ó Nualláin (1984a, 63, fig. 12). Ó Nualláin (1975, 86) suggests that this central stone may have been the cover of a boulder-burial. There are no visible remains of this possible boulder-burial or of its enclosing stone circle. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Boulder-burial in Killowen is a megalithic tomb, likely dating to the Neolithic or early Bronze Age. Its association with a stone circle and a central cupmarked stone suggests ritual or funerary significance, typical of prehistoric ceremonial landscapes in southwest Ireland.