Megalithic Structures

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 The court-tomb has been disturbed by field fences which cross the site and the OS Revision Name Book records that a number of 'large stones have been broken and used for building purposes' (1862, Sheet 8, p. 61). The monument consists of a cairn, over 20m long, orientated N-S, incorporating a gallery at its N end and behind this three lateral chambers, two opening to the E and one to the W. There are five kerb stones in a straight line at the E and two at the W. The lines of these kerb stones suggest a cairn of trapezoidal outline which would seem to have been about 9.5m wide at the S end of the gallery. The entrance to the gallery is marked by two sets of double jambs with a dividing orthostat longitudinally set between the inner, southern, pair. The gallery entrance is flanked by a single court stone at the E. The gallery, 6.5m long by 1.3m wide, is represented by two side stones on the W and four on the E; there is no evidence for segmentation. A single roof stone at the N end of the gallery rests on the dividing orthostat and a large corbel. Two other large corbels rest on the three southern stones of the E side wall. The two E lateral chambers are each represented by a back stone, one side stone on the N, and two side stones on the S. A large corbel rests on the S side of this chamber; another slab beside it to the W may be a displaced corbel. (PRIA (C) 1960, 128)

Megalithic Structures, Grange Irish are likely portal dolmens, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4000–2500 BCE). These structures represent early communal burial practices and are significant as examples of megalithic architecture in Ireland.