Dermot and Grania's Bed — Muntermellan, Horn Head

The monument is on a break in the south-eastern slopes of Horn Head peninsula and overlooks Dunfanaghy. It is on the floor of a small level tract of pasture, c. 100m N-S, which is flanked to the E and W by rocky ridges c. 40m apart. It is built at the base of the eastern of these ridges. Immediately S of the tomb the ground falls sharply to the inner reaches of Sheep Haven Bay c. 600m distant. There is an extensive outlook in this direction as far as Muckish Mountain, 10km away. The monument consists of a long cairn, toward the northern end of which is a well-preserved portal tomb. The cairn is formed of slabs, the larger of which are up to 1m in maximum dimension. It is 24m long (N-S) and 9-10m wide over the forward two-thirds of its length, beyond which it narrows gradually toward the back. It is 1m or more in height. A rough wall, composed of cairn stones, has been heaped up along its south-eastern edge. The chamber, which contains a fill of stones, is built with relatively thin slabs and stands almost 5m back from the broadly rounded N end of the cairn. It is 1.8m long and narrows from 1m wide near the front to 0.8m at the back. At the N are two tall portal-stones, set longitudinally, at either side of a doorstone that appears to be just over half their height. A single orthostat set outside the portal-stone forms each side of the chamber. The chamber is closed by a backstone set between the inner ends of the sidestones. There is a displaced corbel beside the western sidestone. A subsidiary roofstone, laid horizontally, covers the chamber area behind the portal-stones. A gap between the base of this roofstone and the top of the inner end of the eastern sidestone is blocked by a slab, leaning inward slightly, set outside of and rising above the sidestone. The subsidiary roofstone rests on the two sidestones. A small flat stone (not on plan) measuring 0.6m by 0.5m by 0.1m thick, resting on top of the cairn, is interposed between the underside of the roofstone and the top of the outer end of the eastern sidestone. This may not be an ancient feature. The main roofstone, now displaced, rests against the W side of the chamber. The cairn reaches to the tops of the sidestones. Both portal-stones lean inward slightly. The gap between them, 0.35m at the front, widens to 0.55m at the doorstone. The eastern portal-stone is 2.5m high. The top edge of this stone slopes down toward the backstone. The top of the western one, which may be broken, is 0.2m lower than the eastern. The doorstone is 1.3m in exposed height. Its pointed top, which is c. 1m below the tops of the portal-stones, rises just above the level of the subsidiary roofstone and thus blocks entry to the chamber. Both sidestones lean in against the backstone and their respective portal-stones. They are around the same height as the doorstone. The western one is 1.2m in exposed height. The eastern one is 1.1m in exposed height at its N end, 1.3m at the middle, and slopes to ground level at the S. The inward-leaning stone set outside the inner end of this sidestone is 0.9m high. The backstone is 1.1m in exposed height. The displaced corbel outside the western sidestone is split, but the two pieces remain alongside each other. When intact it measured 1.15m by 1m by 0.1m thick. The subsidiary roofstone is 2.2m long, 1.85m wide at the front, narrowing to c. 0.8m near the back, and 0.15-0.25m thick. The large displaced roofstone is 3m long and narrows from 1.5m wide at its N end to 1m near the S end. It is 0.2-0.3m thick. The portal-stones, because they are quite thin slabs with their tops unusually close together, seem to have been unsuited to the task of supporting this substantial roofstone. It is clear from OS documents of the mid-19th century that the monument was by then in its present state. Fagan 1845-8, book 1, 9-10; OS Revision Name Book, sheet 15 (1847-9), 12; Ó Nualláin 1968a, 291-2 (plan); Ó Nualláin 1983a, 35, no. 69; Ó Nualláin 1983b, 93, Donegal no. 3; SMR 1987, 15:13; Ó Nualláin 1989, 124; Cody 1995, 40-41 (plan); RMP 1995, 15:13. The above description was published in the 'Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI, County Donegal.' Compiled by: Eamon Cody (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). Date of upload: 22 September 2008