What is recorded here

Cist in Poulnaskagh stands inside a buried chamber, its narrow stone walls still holding the shape of the last person placed there. The living built a oval path around it, walked past it, and left it alone while the field changed above. What is missing is not the chamber but the hand that closed it.

Situated in the NW centre of a burial cairn (CL009-200001-), this cist (int. dims. 1.2m N-S; 1m E-W) is oriented roughly N-S. It is lined by two upright limestone flags set as sidestones (L c. 0.6m; H 0.4-0.62m; T 0.08m) on the E, one (L 0.48m; H 0.66m; T 0.06m) on the W, and a large endstone (L 1.4m; H 0.45m; T 0.12m) on the S. The space between these stones is packed with horizontally laid slabs, over which are accumulated smaller cairn stones. A curving line of six non-contiguous kerbstones (av. dims. L c. 0.4m; H 0.25-0.35m) borders the E side of the cist at a distance of 0.85-1.2m. If continued around the W side of the cist, this line of stones would form an oval kerb (est. diam. c. 3.6-4m) within the burial cairn (CL009-200001-). The following images have been uploaded: CL009-200002-_01.jpg View from N CL009-200002-_02.jpg View from SE Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 12 July 2022

Cist in Poulnaskagh is a small stone burial chamber, likely dating to the Early Christian or medieval period, associated with a burial cairn. Its orientation and construction reflect local funerary practices of the period.

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