Crislaghmore Megalithic Tomb — Cashel Hill

The tomb, not shown on any edition of the OS 6-inch map, is on the Inishowen peninsula c. 2.6km N of Burnfoot. It stands on a slight terrace low on the NW-facing slope of Asdevlin Hill. The hillslope forms one side of a narrow valley opening on to a low-lying coastal strip of land facing Inch Island. The valley sides restrict the outlook to the NW and SE, and gently rising ground forming the head of the valley limits the view to the NE. There is a view south-westward along the valley to Inch Island, 4.5km distant, but the lower reaches of Lough Swilly beyond the island are all but hidden by it. The area provides rough grazing on wettish land. Upslope from the site, drier land gives way to patches of briars and furze bushes. The structure consists of two lengths of a gallery, c. 2m apart, one to the WSW and the other to the ENE. A low but otherwise substantial stone marks the E end of the gallery. This is set just beyond the ends of two opposed sidestones. Another sidestone lies to the W of the northern of the two opposed ones. A further orthostat stands at right angles to the outer face of this. At the western end of the structure a low orthostat supports a roofstone, which also overlies a displaced stone. There are other displaced stones at this end of the monument. A hedge-grown earthen field bank with a drainage ditch alongside it runs NE-SW immediately beyond the W end of the gallery. The stone crossing the E end of the gallery is 0.35m high. The southern one of the two opposed sidestones next to this is 1.4m high. The northern sidestone is 1.1m high. The sidestone next to this is 0.9m high. The stone at right angles to the side of the gallery is also 0.9m high. It leans slightly to the W. The orthostat at the WSW end of the structure is 0.55m high measured at its inner face. The roofstone here, the southern edge of which rests on the last, measures 2.2m along the axis of the gallery, 1.8m wide and 0.25m thick. The displaced slab under the roofstone measures c. 1.8m by 0.75m by 0.4m. Its original function is uncertain. Approximately 0.5m E of the roofstone the top of a largely buried stone, at least 0.8m in maximum dimension, protrudes from the ground. Its status is not known. Just N of the roofstone is a prostrate slab, also partly buried, and immediately to the E is another one. The former measures 1.1m by at least 1m by 0.2m thick, and the latter is at least 1m in maximum dimension and 0.15m thick. There can be little doubt that both originally formed part of the structure. The original design of this tomb is unclear. An overall gallery length of at least 7m is indicated. The stone at the E end of the gallery may be a backstone, but it is so much lower than the adjoining orthostats that there is a possibility that it is a sillstone. Colhoun 1949, 116; Colhoun 1995, 91. 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)