Dermot and Granias Bed — Maigh Ráithe

This monument, 2.5km SSE of Falcarragh, stands 1km S of the court tomb in Ray townland (Dg. 107) and c. 250m E of the Ray River. To the N is a view toward the sandy beach stretching eastward from Ballyness Bay, 3.4km away, and to the S Muckish and Errigal mountains form the skyline. The tomb is at the edge of a small level tract of ground that provides rough pasture. The tomb, which faces W, consists of the remains of an unroofed gallery, c. 4m long and 1.7m in greatest width. Two adjoining orthostats, almost 2m from the front of the gallery, represent the southern arm of a court. Some slight traces of a mound around the structure are too indefinite to show on the plan. The outer one of the two adjoining orthostats of the court leans inward. It is 0.5m high. The inner one is 0.6m high. The entrance to the gallery is marked by a single transversely set jamb at the N. This leans outward and is 1m high. The first of the two orthostats on this side of the gallery is 0.9m high. That next to it is 0.6m high. There is a gap, 0.7m long, between this and the stone closing the back of the gallery. Three orthostats form the S side of the gallery. The first is 0.55m high, and the second is 0.5m high. A corbel, its outer end on the ground, rests on the opposed ends of these two orthostats. It measures 1m by 0.9m by 0.4m in greatest thickness. The third sidestone at the S overlaps and leans against the backstone. It is 0.6m high. The gable-shaped backstone is 1.2m high. Although no formal segmentation is present, the narrowing of the gallery achieved at the inner ends of the opposed sidestones at the front of the structure suggests that a two-chambered design may have been intended. Thomas Fagan (1845-8), who visited here in 1845, noted a local claim that part of the gallery had been covered by 'a great flag' but that it and other stones of the structure had been removed. He also referred to the destruction of what may have been another tomb (DG025-051----) in the same townland (Appendix 1, no. 87). Approximately 5m S of the tomb are two stones, one 0.85m and the other 0.7m high, and a third stone, lm in maximum dimension, lies prostrate closeby. Another upright stone, 0.8m high, stands 11m downslope to the W. These appear to represent the remains of a curved stone wall. Fagan 1845-8, book 3, 17-18; OS Revision Name Book, sheet 25 (1847-9), 18; de Valera 1960, 105, DG. 8 (plan); Ó Nualláin 1983a, 27, no. 40; SMR 1987, 25:38; Ó Nualláin 1989, 117; RMP 1995, 25:38. 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 See linked document with details from Eamon Cody, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI. County Donegal. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002) Excavation licence number 04E0273 Pre-development testing was carried out on 5 March 2004 at the site of a proposed dwelling at Moyra Glebe, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, which is located within the archaeological constraint for a megalithic tomb (SMR 25:38) in the neighbouring field to the north of the site. The testing comprised the excavation (by machine) of four trenches, which measured 50.6m, 9.5m, 7.5m and 17.5m long respectively, 1.05-1.3m wide and 0.45-0.8m deep. Below the topsoil was grey/rust-coloured loose loamy sand and grey/rust-coloured friable sandy silt loam. A number of modern field drains crossed one of the trenches. Three sherds of modern pottery were recovered from the topsoil. Nothing of archaeological significance was revealed. (Excavations Bulletin 2004) Richard Crumlish, 61 An Cladrach, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo.