Megalithic tomb in Creenasmear

Thomas Fagan (1845-8) wrote the following account of a site he visited in 1845: 'In the townland of Creenasmear and holding of John Kelly and others 2 miles [c. 3.2km] NE the road from Letterkenny to Crossroads [now Falcarragh] stands the ruins of an ancient place of sepulture locally called Dermot and Grania's Bed. It is an oval 30 by 25 feet [c. 9.15m by 7.6m] and seem to have been originally enclosed by a stone wall or circle some of which remain and stones standing upright from 1 to 31/2 feet [c. 0.3-1.05m] above the surface but not otherwise large. It is said to have contained sundry graves none of which are now traceable.' It lay in that part of the townland that falls on OS 6-inch sheet 34 but is not shown thereon. A general search of this area, one of sloping boggy land below Muckish Mountain, revealed no trace of the feature described by Fagan. The nature of this site remains unknown. Fagan 1845-8, book 5, 17. 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

Megalithic tomb in Creenasmear is likely a portal dolmen, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4000–2500 BCE). Its significance lies in contributing to the understanding of early megalithic funerary practices in the northwest of Ireland.