Dermot and Granias Bed — Oirear Dhumhaí Beag

The monument lies 650m SW of the court tomb (Dg. 52) in the same townland and 1.1km SE of the extensive beach stretching eastward from Ballyness Bay. The site is at the end of a low ridge in pasture and overlooks an extensive level tract of farmland to the W. Muckish Mountain dominates the outlook to the S. The tomb is greatly ruined, and only the portal-stones, both aligned E-W, and the doorstone survive in situ. A dislodged roofstone leans against the portal-stones. A low stone, 0.15m outside the southern portal-stone, though upright, is not firmly set and is of uncertain status. The structure stands toward the northern end of a grass-grown mound measuring 4.8m N-S by 3.6m E-W and 0.2m high. The portal-stones are 0.5-0.6m apart. That to the N leans inward slightly, and its sloping top decreases in height from 1.2m at the E to 0.9m at the W. Its higher end rises 0.15m above the top of the southern portal-stone. This is 0.4m thick at the base and narrows toward the top. Its western end overlaps the doorstone, which, in turn, slightly overlaps the western end of the northern portal-stone. The doorstone, which leans slightly to the W, is 0.6m high, around half the height of the portal-stones. The stone outside the southern portal-stone is 0.75m long, 0.2m thick and 0.35m high. The top of this seems broken, and it may have been taller. The displaced roofstone measures 1.85m by 1.7m and is 0.25m thick. There are numerous small depressions, none greater than 0.06m in diameter and 0.02m deep, on the upper surface of this slab. Some of these are stepped in section and appear to be of natural origin. Descriptions of the monument in OS records from before 1850 show it to have been then much as it is now. The monument is clearly the remains of a small portal tomb chamber. The juxtaposition of the stones still in situ indicates that the chamber lay to the W of these and that the tomb thus faced uphill and to the E. Fagan 1845-8, book 3, 13; OS Revision Name Book, sheet 25 (1847-9), 48; Ó Nualláin 1968a, 293 (plan); Ó Nualláin 1983a, 30, no. 52 (plan); Ó Nualláin 1983b, 93, Donegal no. 6; SMR 1987, 25:17; Ó Nualláin 1989, 124; RMP 1995, 25:17. 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 Excavation licence number 02E0456 Testing was undertaken on 29 and 30 April 2002 at a proposed sand-and-gravel pit at Errarooey Beg, Falcarragh. The site is near a court tomb and two destroyed enclosures (SMR 25:17 and 25:19). The area, which measures c. 200m by 300m, consists of marshy ground with rock outcrops and gorse, crossed by the remains of several stone walls. Seventeen test-trenches, each 2m wide, with a total length of 780m, were opened across the site. Topsoil and sod overlay a layer of rounded natural cobbles, beneath which was boulder clay. Beneath this, iron pan was present in places. The lowest context was a bright yellow sand with gravel inclusions. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered. (Excavations Bulletin 2002) Tom Rogers, Moore Ltd, Unit 6, Riveroaks, Claregalway, Co. Galway. See linked document with details from Eamon Cody, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI. County Donegal. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002)