Court tomb in Málainn Mhóir

This monument (National Monument no. 139 (4) in state care), not shown on OS 6-inch maps, stands amid outcropping rock on the N side of the valley opening onto the N side of Malin Bay. When describing the nearby portal tomb (Dg. 93), which lies 80m to the E, Norman Moore (1872, 524) mentioned that there was a 'chamber cromlech of small dimensions' 40 yards (c. 37m) W of it. There is no trace of such a feature at this position, but, if we allow for some imprecision on Moore's part, he may have been referring to the monument described here. The monument consists of what appears to be the front chamber of an otherwise destroyed gallery, at the ENE end of which is an arc of three stones, possibly the remains of the northern arm of a court. There is a line of two small stones between the chamber and the arc of stones. Though firmly set, their function is most uncertain. They may have formed part of a small antechamber. There is a gap of 0.8m between the outermost one of the arc of stones and the middle one, and 0.6m between this and the innermost one. The outermost stone is 0.2m high; the middle one is 0.25m high; and the innermost one is 0.4m high. A stone beside the middle one measures 0.4m by 0.4m by 0.25m high. This is not firmly set and is not hatched on the plan. Two jambs, the northern one longitudinally set and the southern one transversely set, are 0.6m apart and stand at the front of the chamber. A displaced slab, 0.8m by 0.7m by 0.3m thick, now spans the gap between them. It rests on top of the southern one and against the inner face of the northern one. The southern jamb, its outer end concealed, is 0.5m high. Its northern counterpart is lm high. The two small set stones, indicators of a possible antechamber, run forward from this. That next to the jamb is 0.25m high, and the other is 0.1m high. Both are 0.3m long and 0.05m thick. The chamber is 1.8m long and 1.45m wide internally. A single orthostat forms each side. That to the N, set outside the line of the adjacent jamb, is 0.55m high. The southern sidestone is 0.9m high and leans inward slightly. What appears to be a segmenting jamb is set against the inner face of this. Transversely set, this is 0.3m high. Opposite it is a stone at the inner face of the northern sidestone. This does not appear to be securely set and is not hatched on the plan. It measures 0.5m by 0.3m by 0.3m high. Some small stones lie scattered around the site. Additionally, two large displaced stones lie in front of the chamber. One just in front of the chamber measures 1.4m by 1.lm by 0.7m. Local information suggests that this was detached from the outcropping rock to the S of the court area in recent decades. The second displaced stone, 1.3m E of the first, measures lm by 0.65m by 0.5m. The survival here of what appears to be part of a court, and of a chamber that seems to be the remnant of a gallery divided by jambs, suggests that the remains are those of a court tomb, and the monument is tentatively assigned to that class. N. Moore 1872, 524 ('Forty yards west is a chamber cromlech of small dimensions' may refer); Borlase 1897, 249, under Banagh nos. 9-20 (quotes Moore). 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). Volume VI. County Donegal. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002)