Portal tomb in Sheskin (upperthird By.)

Situated at the side of a laneway, on a broad plateau at the head of a small E-W valley. Small portal tomb of conglomerate stone (H of portals 1.2m; 1.35m) facing SE. The rectangular roofstone (dims. 2.15m x 2.2m; T 0.45m) has slipped off its supporting stones, and the backstone and the NE sidestones are missing. (Grubb 1944, 177-9; Shee 1967; Ó Nualláin 1983, 102) Grubb, I. (1944) Notes on two prehistoric burial dites in the townland of Seskin, Co. Waterford, JRSAI, 74, 176-9. Ó Nualláin, S. (1983) Irish portal tombs: topography, siting and distribution. JRSAI 113, 102-03. Shee, E. (1967) A portal dolmen at Sheskin, Co. Waterford. JCHAS 72, 70-1. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 23 December 2008

Portal tomb, Late Neolithic period (c. 2500–2000 BCE). This tomb is significant as a small but well-preserved example of a portal tomb, a type characteristic of the later Neolithic in Ireland, often associated with ritual and burial practices.