Meenkeeragh Wedge Tomb

This monument is not shown on any edition of the OS 6-inch map. It is on the wet, boggy, S-facing slope of Meenkeeragh Hill overlooking the valley of the Owenkillew River. There is a view along this valley to Lough Swilly, 5km to the W. South of the tomb and beyond the valley is a range of high ground with mountain peaks. A northward extension of this range limits the outlook to the E. The monument may have been opened in the second half of the 19th century (Colhoun 1995). Now deeply embedded in peat, it stands in a bog-grown subrectangular mound, c. 0.5m high, measuring 13.8m WSW-ENE by 8.5m. It consists of the inner end of a gallery flanked at both sides by outer-walling, with the remains of an elaborate facade at the WSW. Two opposed sidestones and a backstone at the ENE form the inner end of the gallery. There are two outer-wall stones around midway along the S side of the monument, and a possible third one to the E of these. A largely intact line of close-set outer-walling rises above the N side of the gallery. From around mid-length, both sides of the outer-walling diverge quite sharply toward the W. The intact N side of the outer-walling articulates with the facade, the northern half of which is represented by five stones. The southern half of the facade is missing except for a lone stone at the SW corner of the monument. The surviving stones of the gallery are all the same height, and the inner face of each is exposed to a depth of 1m. The opposed sidestones are 1m apart. The backstone is set inside the end of the sidestone to the N and in turn overlaps the end of the southern sidestone. The line of outer-walling at the N consists of five stones. The inner faces of these stones rise 0.25-0.45m clear of the bog. There is a stone between the easternmost of these and the inner end of the sidestone. This stone is exposed to a depth of 0.6m. The western one of the two outer-wall stones to the S of the gallery is 1.2m in exposed height and rises 0.1m above its neighbour. The largely concealed stone outside the S end of the backstone, as mentioned above, may be another outer-wall stone. Its inner face is exposed to a depth of 0.75m. The facade seems to have been c. 5m wide. At the northern extremity two stones, 0.1m apart, are set face to face, and this arrangement is repeated c. 0.75m to the S, around midway along the facade. The gap between the two pairs of stones is spanned by a fifth slab, which stands immediately outside them. The inner one of the pair of stones at the N articulates with the W end of the outer-walling and is 0.5m in exposed height. The outer stone here rises 0.3m above the inner. It is set beyond the end of the outer-walling and is 0.8m in exposed height. The inner and outer stones of the pair midway along the facade are 0.7m and 0.9m in exposed height. The outer stone rises 0.3m above the inner. The stone spanning the gap between the two pairs of stones is 0.8m in exposed height. The lone stone at the southern end of the facade leans outward. It would stand 0.85m high if upright. Although it is uncertain how the missing forward part of the gallery articulated with this facade, an original gallery length of 3.5-4m seems indicated. Colhoun 1949, 116; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 43, no. 113; SMR 1987, 29:36; Ó Nualláin 1989, 136; Colhoun 1995, 71; RMP 1995, 29:36. 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)