What is recorded here

Mistaken for Mayo, the tomb actually stands in County Cavan, a damaged chamber swallowed by a field fence on a pasture ridge. Its tall northern portal still rises above the sidestone, but the southern gate has fallen and the backstone leans skew, breaking the chamber's ancient line. Cattle walk past the displaced roof slabs as if they were ordinary stones, reducing a place built for the dead to mere boundary markup.

Sited on a ridge in pasture. The chamber, incorporated in a field fence, is quite damaged. It faces NW and is about 3m long and 1.5m wide. At its more northerly side, a portal-stone 1.55m high, rises 0.85m above the adjoining sidestone. Beyond this a low backstone is set skew to the main axis of the chamber. At S a sidestone is in place but the portal-stone has fallen. An outward-leaning sillstone marks the front of the chamber. A displaced slab in the chamber may be part of a roofstone. Another displaced slab lies to the N of the fallen portal-stone. (de Valera and Ó Nualláin 1972, 121-2, No. 21) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1995). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 December 2008 See linked document with details from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume III. Counties Galway, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, Laoighis, Offaly, Kildare, Cavan. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1972).

Portal tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4000–2500 BCE). These tombs are significant as some of the earliest megalithic monuments in Ireland, often associated with communal burial and ritual practices.

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