What is recorded here

County Donegal once held an irregular oblong chamber about eight feet long, built from standing flags and named Giant's Grave on the 1849 map. The stones disappeared before 1900, leaving behind only a memory and a warning about how quickly human hands can erase ancient work. What remains is a hollow shape in the landscape, large enough to have contained a body or a belief, but no longer visible to judge.

This feature was first shown on the 1849 edition of the OS 6-inch map, where it is named 'Giant's Grave'. There is no trace of it now. It is briefly described in an OS Revision Name Book (1849) as consisting of 'standing flags arranged in an irregular oblong form about 8 feet [c. 2.4m] long'. It had apparently been removed by 1900, as it is described as the 'site' of a Giant's Grave in an OS 1:2,500 Name Book of that time. It seems to have been an artificial feature, possibly some form of megalithic structure, but its precise nature is unclear. OS Revision Name Book, sheet 21 (1849), 47; OS 1:2,500 Name Book, sheet 21 (1900-1901), 21; Colhoun 1949, 116; Killanin and Duignan 1962, 380; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 381; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 49, no. 183; SMR 1987, 21:5; Colhoun 1995, 61; RMP 1995, 21:5. The above description was published in the 'Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI, County Donegal.' Compiled by: Eamon Cody (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). Date of upload: 22 September 2008

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.