What is recorded here

Four large upright stones and scattered companions once stood on a gentle south-facing slope near the great passage tomb of Dowth. People may have gathered there to mark death, honour ancestors or simply watch the sky tilt over the Boyne valley. The tomb has largely vanished, leaving behind a quiet field and a quarry mark where its bones were taken. What remains is not a monument but a absence, shaping every memory of the place around its own disappearance.

Situated on a gentle S-facing slope in the vicinity of the great passage tomb of Dowth (ME020-017----) and the medieval parish church (ME020-019----). Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 496) describes a cromlech ‘consisting of four large upright stones, and several others lying near’. Sir William Wilde (1849, 210-11) mentions a giant’s tomb in the vicinity of the great tomb and Dowth castle (ME020-018----) in addition to the Cloghalea stones (ME020-009----) with which it might be confused. O’Kelly (1978, 59-60) observed a number of large stones against the E boundary of this field, and there is a quarry at one point which might be the site of this structure and account for the removal of the tomb. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 10 September 2018

Neolithic passage tomb, dating to approximately 3200–2500 BCE. It is part of the Brú na Bóinne complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is significant for its association with early megalithic funerary and ceremonial traditions in Ireland.

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