Megalithic tomb in Magheestown

According to Thomas Fagan (1845-8), 'the ruins of a Giant's Grave' 14 feet (c. 4.25m) long and 8 feet (c. 2.4m) wide, orientated E-W, had stood in this townland, but only a 'few' stones, 1-2 feet (c. 0.3-0.6m) high, remained when he visited the area in 1846. Fagan described the location of the monument as 3/4 of a mile (c. 1.2km) W of the road leading from Raphoe to Newtowncunningham and on the holding of William Tease. It was not shown on OS 6-inch maps: according to a note written alongside Fagan's account, the reviser who was sent to check the site for inclusion on the map after Fagan had brought it to notice found that neither Tease nor 'the oldest inhabitant in the townland' knew of it, nor was there any apparent trace of it. Today, in a field c. 1.2km from the Raphoe-Newtowncunningham road and on land occupied by William Tays in 1857 (Griffith 1848-64) there is a small upright stone at a position 33.6cm from the left-hand side and 17.6cm from the bottom of OS 6-inch sheet 62 (NGR C 261 053). It measures 0.45m by 0.45m by 0.6m high. Its origin and purpose are now unclear, but perhaps it is one of the stones noted by Fagan. Approximately 15m W of this stone and toward the NW corner of the field the surface of a large slab of rock bears rock art motifs (DG062-035) (Cody 1998). Whether the few stones noted by Fagan were the remains of a megalithic tomb is uncertain. Fagan 1845-8, book 8, 26. 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 update / revision : 12 August 2010

Portal dolmen; likely dates to the Neolithic period (c. 4000–2500 BCE). Its orientation and megalithic construction reflect early ritual practices associated with burial and communal memory in Ireland.