Court tomb in Ballycasheen

The monument stands on south-facing gently-sloping ground near the southern end of Parknabinna ridge overlooking the valley of the River Fergus. The land comprises extensive areas of outcropping rock and the field in which the tomb stands was reclaimed between 2005 and 2010. The portal tomb (CL016-048----) in the same townland stands c. 250m to the NW. The monument is ruined and the surviving remains consist of a two-chambered gallery (L 2.6m) opening to the E. Entry to the E chamber (L 1.8m) is marked by a single, tall transversely-set jamb-stone (1.8m H). Immediately W of this a large roofstone (2.25m by 1.9m) covers the chamber and rests at an angle against the segmenting jamb-stone and N sidestone. This stone is set at an angle to the line of the gallery and overlaps the corresponding N sidestone of the second chamber to the W leaving a gap of only 0.4m between the jamb and sidestone. The W chamber (L. 1.4m; Wth 1.7m) is represented by a single surviving sidestone on the N and S and is closed by a backstone at the W. An expanse of outcropping rock rises immediately W of the backstone and this would have inhibited any extension of the gallery in this direction. The possibility that the gallery extended further to the E cannot be excluded but, given the tall jamb-stone at this end, does not seem likely. There is no evidence of any structural stones to the N of the jamb and the monument appears to have had various drystone walling insertions and accretions which hinder a full interpretation of the structure. The tomb appears to be set in a low stony mound but it is difficult to define any edge with certainty due to the fact that the field has been reclaimed and clearance piled up around it, especially at the W end of the extant remains where a large section of reclaimed rock has been set upright. The two-chamber design and transversely-set jambs have obvious affinities with many of those in the court tomb galleries. That said, the monument lacks any evidence of a court and the large roofstone is more usually associated with portal tombs: the monument clearly displays influences from both architectural traditions. Interpretation as a possible court tomb is suggested but this is purely tentative and a proper elucidation of the monument must await further investigation. CL016-170----_01.jpg: View of the monument from the northeast overlooking the broad valley of the River Fergus. CL016-170----_02.jpg: View of the tomb from the south. CL016-170----_03.jpg: View of the gallery looking east with the backstone in the foreground. CL016-170----_01.pdf: Plan and section of Ballycasheen megalithic tomb. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 24 June 2013

Court tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 3700–2500 BCE). These tombs are significant as some of the earliest ceremonial and burial monuments in Ireland, often associated with communal ritual and ancestor veneration.