Dermot and Grania's Bed — Gortnalaragh

This monument stands in rough pasture on a relatively flat piece of ground c. 50m from the top of an E-facing hillslope 3.5km NW of the village of Kilmacrenan. There is a considerable outlook from the site in all directions except to the W. Loughsalt Mountain, 5km to NE, dominates the skyline, and to the E and SE there is a fall to the fertile lands of the valley of the Leannan River. The monument is quite ruined. It consists of the remains of a gallery, 5.5m long and at least 1m wide, aligned W-E. Its E end is open, and its W end is indicated by a lone facade-stone to the N. The gallery stands toward the N side of a furze- and grass-grown mound, subcircular in outline and measuring 7.3m N-S by almost 9m E-W. The mound reaches a maximum overall height of c. 1m relative to local ground level at the S; it is lower at the N, where the outline is somewhat vague, and old cultivation ridges encroach on it at the SW. Three orthostats survive on the N side of the gallery. The westernmost of these is beside and at right angles to the S end of the facade-stone. The second is 2.1m E of the first, and the third is 0.4m further to the E. The only remaining orthostat of the S side of the gallery stands opposite this. Three displaced slabs lie at the site. The facade-stone leans markedly to the W. It would stand 1.2m high if upright. The adjoining sidestone is 1m high. The western of the other two sidestones at the northern side of the gallery leans inward to such an extent that it is almost prostrate. It measures 0.7m by 0.2m and would stand 0.6m high if upright. The next also leans inward and would stand 0.5m high if upright. The single orthostat on the S side of the gallery leans outward. It would stand 0.3m high if upright. The westernmost of the three displaced slabs lies prostrate toward the W end of the monument. It measures 1.9m by 0.9m by 0.3m thick. The second rests against the middle of the three orthostats at the N side of the gallery. It measures 1.6m by 1.3m and is 0.45m thick. The third of the three displaced slabs rests in a sloping position against the outer ends of the opposed orthostats at the E end of the gallery. It measures 1.8m by 0.9m and is 0.3m thick. The original roles of these three stones are now uncertain. It is clear from an account of the tomb by Thomas Fagan (1845-8), who visited it in 1846, that it was then in much the same condition as it is now. There is no trace of a standing stone that, according to Kinahan (1889), stood nearby. The remains are clearly those of a long gallery that increased in height toward the W. These factors and the survival of a facade-stone all point to it being the remains of a wedge tomb. Fagan 1845-8, book 9, 4; Kinahan 1889, 283; Borlase 1897, 233, Kilmacrenan no. 24; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 41, no. 103 (plan); SMR 1987, 44:3; Ó Nualláin 1989, 136; RMP 1995, 44:3. 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)