What is recorded here

Dermot and Grania’s Bed is a collapsed wedge tomb on a gentle Clare slope, marked by thorn trees and scattered stones rather than a polished chamber. It is the kind of place where love becomes geography: two names given to a heap of ancient rock, suggesting people once lay beside it or argued about whose body it held. The stones have fallen inward and outward across centuries, yet the bed remains named, remembered and visible in ordinary pasture.

On a very gentle W-facing slope, in improved, gently undulating pasture with reasonable views of the surrounding low-lying landscape. The monument appears to exist as described by De Valera and Ó Nualláin (1961, 79, no. 104) and is depicted and named ‘Dermot & Grania’s Bed on OS historic mapping. The monument is marked by a distinct cluster of mature thorn trees and consists of the partially collapsed remains of a wedge tomb (4.8m NE-SW; 2.7m NW-SE) constructed of numerous orthostats some of which appear to be in situ and some which are slightly displaced due to potential collapse in antiquity, under the weight of the capstone. A perfectly upright, substantial orthostat (L 2.1m; T 0.4m; H 0.91m) forms the main portion of the SE side and a smaller, slightly NW-tilting orthostat (L 1.4m; min. T 0.3m; H 0.76m) forms the remainder of the SE side, having collapsed slightly inwards. The NW side is formed by two parallel, collapsed orthostats (inner stone L 0.68m; T 0.15m; H 0.17m; outer stone L 0.87m; T 0.16m; H 0.3m), which have fallen outwards. The remainder of the NW side is formed by a long orthostat (L 1.5m; T 0.2m; Wth 1.2m) which has collapsed inwards. A small orthostat (L 0.53m; T 0.17m; H 0.28m) is to the rear on this side, which has also fallen outwards slightly. A substantial capstone forms the roof over the main portion of the tomb, at the NE end. It does not have any weight bearing upon the largest of the orthostats on the SE-side, which may account for collapse of the two parallel orthostats on the opposite side to NW. The orthostats defining the NW (1.35m; T 0.35m; H 0.44m) and SE sides of the tomb at the SW end, have both collapsed inwards under the weight of a second capstone (L 1.5m; Wth 1.12m; T 0.35m). This second, smaller capstone partially rests upon the larger capstone, where they overlap. A third capstone-like megalith (L 1.5m; Wth 1.1m; T 0.3m) lies against the SW end of the tomb and appears to be ex situ, having once formed part of the monument. A second, potentially ex situ stone (L 1.05m; Wth 0.96m; T 0.23m) is adjacent to the tomb at NW. The monument was not seen at the NE end, due to a dense growth of briars. The following documents and images have been uploaded: CL035-047----_01.pdf Details from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume I. County Clare. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1961) CL035-047----_01.jpg View of wedge tomb from SE. CL035-047----_02.jpg View of wedge tomb from SW. Revised by: Mary Tunney Date of revision: 8 November 2017

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