Giants Grave

On rocky reclaimed pasture below the steeper S slopes of the Ox Mountains and commanding an extensive outlook to the S. A layer of peat covers parts of the structure. This wedge tomb is a National Monument in State ownership (no. 523). A well-preserved gallery opens onto a façade and an outer wall. The gallery, facing WNW, is divided by two jamb-like stones inset in the gallery walls and a septal-stone, now in a displaced position just E of them, into a portico (L 1.4m; Wth 1.3m) and main chamber (L 6m; Wth at front 1.6m, at mid-length 2.15m, at rear 0.7m). A single stone forms each side of the portico. There are eight stones on the N side of the main chamber and seven on the S side. There is a small stone immediately outside the easternmost stone at the S. The E end of the structure is covered by three overlapping roofstones resting on the gallery sides. A large stone is interposed between either end of the westernmost roofstone and the top of the S side of the gallery. Outer-walling survives beyond both the sides and back of the gallery. There are ten outer-wall stones at the N, twelve at the S, and a single large orthostat is in position at the E end of the monument. There is a set stone of uncertain function 0.7m outside the E end of the outer-walling at the N. A single facade-stone links the outer wall at the N to the front of the portico. Its counterpart at the S is now prostrate. There is considerable cairn material between the outer-walling and the gallery but no trace of a mound outside the structure. (Ó Nualláin 1989, 54-5, no. 86) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008 See linked document with details from Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume V. County Sligo. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1989)

Wedge tomb; dates to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1000 BCE). Its status as a National Monument highlights its archaeological importance as part of Ireland's megalithic heritage.