Megalithic Structure

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 The monument is 160m NW of portal-tomb (LH004-056----). Situated on the W side of the valley of the Kilcurry River. It consists of a substantial grass-grown oblong mound (L 12m; max. Wth 7m; max. H 1m) in which there is the remains of a long gallery, aligned NNE-SSW. Two clumps of white-thorn trees grow on the S end of the mound. The monument was listed as an unclassified megalithic tomb (Ó Nualláin 1989; Ó Nualláin & Walsh 1986a, 1991) but following a more recent examination it is clear that it is a wedge-tomb. The gallery (at least 4.5m long) is aligned almost due N-S with the entrance at the S end. A large septal-stone marks the S end of the gallery.The E side of the gallery is represented by at least five stones but only two possible sidestones are visible on the W side. Near the N end of the mound is a low set stone with a gabled top. It may be a backstone or a kerb-stone. A prostrate slab in the gallery area may be a displaced roofstone.

A portal dolmen; dates to the Neolithic period. It represents an early form of megalithic monument associated with burial and ritual practices in Ireland.