What is recorded here

Polygonal Linkardstown burial in County Carlow, Ireland. A low yellow-clay mound, perhaps twenty-five metres across, still marks the place where ploughing opened a stone cist in 1944. Inside lay an adult, three necked vessels and a polished axehead, things placed together rather than scattered by chance. The mound may have stood for centuries before that furrow cut through it, holding a life and its belongings beneath ordinary farmland.

The following description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Carlow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Polygonal cist constructed mainly on old ground surface, covered by low mound (diam.. c. 25m) of yellow clay with 'kerb' of smaller stones. Cist had multiple side stones and two capstones; contained a disarticulated inhumation of an adult, sherds of three necked vessels, and polished stone axehead. Discovered during ploughing and excavated in 1944. (JRSAI 1944, 61-2)

Neolithic passage tomb; dates to the 4th millennium BCE. It is significant as part of a broader network of early megalithic monuments in Leinster, reflecting the funerary and ritual practices of Ireland's first farming communities.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.