Dermot and Grania's Bed — Ballymore Upper

This monument lies 1.15km SW of the last. It is on a slight rise 0.5km N of the Derryart River and 1.6km W of the inner reaches of Sheep Haven Bay. The land in the vicinity is under pasture, broken in places by rock outcrop, Muckish Mountain, 6km to the SW, dominates the outlook from the site. The monument, considerably disturbed, consists of the remains of a court at the E leading to a roofless gallery c. 8.5m long. Two field banks bordering a disused farm track, c. 3m or more wide, run NNW-SSE across the structure. The eastern bank, which is hedge grown, crosses the front of the gallery, and the western crosses it at around mid-length. The outline of a broad mound, narrowing toward the W, survives beyond the S side and W end of the gallery. This largely grass-grown mound measures 14m N-S by 14m E-W and rises to a maximum height of 2m relative to falling ground just W of the monument. One stone of the N arm of a broad court and four of the S arm survive in situ. That at the N flanks the front of the gallery and is 1m high. The outer three orthostats of the S arm form a curved line, and the fourth is skewed from this line so as to meet the front of the gallery. The skewed courtstone is 1.2m high. The adjoining courtstone, the back of which is concealed, is 0.45m high. The next is 0.8m high, and the outermost one is 1.3m high. Next to the last the track of a stone, perhaps another courtstone, was visible in 1952. Outside this end of the court is a displaced slab measuring 1.7m by l.1m by 0.3m thick. Another displaced slab lies 1.6m E of the northern courtstone. The entrance to the gallery is marked by two longitudinally set flat-topped jambs. These converge toward the E, where they are 0.9m apart. The southern one is 0.9m high, and the northern one is 1.25m high. The stone that now lies in front of them may be a displaced lintel. It is 1.7m long and l.1m thick. A large flat-topped sidestone overlaps the northern jamb. This leans inward and is 0.65m high. A corbel overlying both this and the adjoining jamb measures 1.7m by l.1m by 0.25m thick. Inside the W end of the sidestone is a leaning slab 1.2m long and c. a.2m thick, which may be a displaced sidestone or jamb. Almost 1m SE of this is an upright stone, 0.7m high. This is not firmly set in the ground and may not be in situ. The rear portion of the gallery is beyond the western field bank. An orthostat, 0.8m high, on the S side of the gallery protrudes from the fence. This may be a longitudinally set jamb or perhaps a sidestone. It supports the eastern end of a large corbel 2.6m long by l.1m in sloping height by 0.3m thick. The corbel may be somewhat displaced. Opposite this is another corbel, 2.6m long by at least 0.8m high by 0.3m thick. Beyond the corbels the back of the gallery is represented by two opposed sidestones and a flat-topped backstone. The northern sidestone is 0.3m in exposed height, and the southern one is 0.35m high. The backstone, 0.3m in exposed height, is set outside the end of the southern sidestone but inside the end of the northern one. Approximately 4.5m S of the front of the gallery is a large set stone close to the edge of the mound. It is 1.5m long and at least 0.25m thick and is exposed to a depth of 0.7m at its outer face. Approximately 4.5m to the W is another set stone, 0.9m long, 0.45m thick and 0.5m high. The status of both these stones is unclear, and neither is hatched on the plan. Immediately behind the back of the gallery a slab, 0.9m by at least 0.7m by at least 0.4m thick, protrudes above the surface of the mound. This does not appear to be in situ. Just 1m W of this is a prostrate slab, 0.9m by 0.5m by 0.35m thick. At right angles to the N of the gallery and flanking the western one of the two fences crossing the monument is a slab, 1.2m long, set on end. This is loose in the ground and does not appear to be in situ. Approximately 0.3m to the W of this is a displaced slab, 1.4m in maximum dimension. On a visit to the tomb in August 1991 Seán Ó Nualláin found that the rear of the gallery had been disturbed. He rescued two sherds of pottery that lay exposed under the northern of the two large corbels. One was a rim sherd of coarse ware, and the other was a body sherd of a separate vessel (Ó Nualláin 1990). It is clear from Fagan's account (1845-8) that the structure was then much as it is today. The original number of chambers is not known. Local information suggesting that there had been a full court here (de Valera 1960, 105) cannot be confirmed. Fagan 1845-8, book 2, 17; OS Revision Name Book, sheet 26 (1847-9), 7; de Valera 1960, 105, DG. 9 (plan); Killanin and Duignan 1967, 191; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 16, no. 4; SMR 1987, 26:6; Ó Nualláin 1989, 117; Ó Nualláin 1990; RMP 1995, 26:6. 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).