What is recorded here

Druids Altar is a wedge tomb on a steep Clare slope, its chamber pointing SSW toward the valley and distant Turlough Hill. The backstone carries a quarter-circle opening, perhaps a cup or marker, while the sillstone lies askew and worn smooth under centuries of weather. The name suggests people once imagined ritual there, but the stones themselves record only dead hands, heavy lifts and a chamber built to hold what the valley could forget.

On rough grazing near the upper edge of a steep NE-facing slope with panoramic views over the valley beyond and Turlough Hill cairn (CL006-017002-) c. 6.5km NNE. A well-preserved single-chambered SSW-orientated wedge tomb (de Valera and Ó Nualláin 1961, 15–16), centrally placed in a roughly circular cairn (diam. c. 9m). The tomb chamber (L 2.4m) comprises 4 orthostats (2 sidestones, a backstone and a sillstone) and a capstone, and widens and rises toward the SSW end (Wth at NNE 1.2m; Wth at SSW 1.25m; H at NNE 1.05m; H at SSW 1.3m). The N sidestone (L 3m; max. exposed H 1.3m; T 0.15–0.25m) leans very slightly outward; its upper edge is stepped, squarish in section and appears undressed. The S sidestone (L 3.35m; max. exposed H 1.3m; T 0.15–0.25m) leans slightly inward; its upper edge is rounded and appears undressed. The backstone (L 1.2m; exposed H 1.3m; T 0.2m) is neatly fitted with its sides almost touching the sidestones and with the capstone resting on its upper edge. Its upper edge is dressed and a quarter circle ope (L 0.35; Wth 0.3m) has been worked into its top N corner. Its top S corner has also broken away (L 0.4m; Wth 0.35m) but with less evidence of human intention. The sillstone (L 0.8m; exposed H 0.45m; T 0.1m) is firmly set, slightly askew of the chamber, leans inward and its upper edge is worn smooth. There is a gap between it and the S sidestone (0.35m) and between its upper edge and roofstone (Wth 0.75m). The capstone (L 3.25m; T 0.2–0.3m) sits on both sidestones and the backstone. It is wider at its SSW end (Wth 1.8m) than its NNE end (Wth 1.45m), but the SE end does appear to have been cut away and an incised line along its S edge may be of recent origin. A line of stone slabs (L 0.2–0.8m; av. H 0.2m) within the cairn, forms an arc from WNW to ENE c. 2m N of the tomb. This may be part of the cairn structure or an internal kerb defining a phase of construction. A grassed-over mound wall runs WSW off the cairn. It, other mound walls and slab walls traversing the field form part of a multiperiod field system (CL005-160001-) that extends over the plateau to the W and into the neighbouring townlands of Cragballyconoal and Eanty More. Two grassed-over cairns (CL006-035001- and CL006-035002-) the first of which contains a cist (CL006-035004-), are located c. 20m NW and 70m NW respectively. The following has been uploaded: CL006-035003-_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). Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin Date of upload: 12 May 2021

Wedge tomb, dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1200 BCE). Its orientation and location suggest ritual or ceremonial significance, possibly linked to landscape features such as Turlough Hill cairn.

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