Giant's Grave Court Tomb — Leitir

This monument stands in pasture on a broad, relatively flat-topped ridge 2.3km E of the village of Kilmacrenan. The site commands an all-round outlook, with Lough Swilly visible c. 14km to the E and Lough Fern 2.8km to the N. The monument consists of a long kerbed mound, more or less trapezoidal in outline, which is aligned approximately NE-SW. It is described here as if aligned E-W. At its broader E end is a large U-shaped court leading to a gallery. Midway along the S side of the cairn is a subsidiary chamber opening onto the edge of the mound. At the W end of the mound are two opposed lengths of gallery, 1.6m apart, on the long axis of the monument. The W end of the eastern one is linked to the S side of the mound by two stones. The original form of the arrangement here is uncertain, but the two stones may represent one side of a shared lateral entry to what may be two opposed subsidiary chambers. This seems the best interpretation of the surviving remains, but other possibilities cannot be ruled out. There may, for instance, have been a transeptal arrangement here (de Valera 1965, 16), or the two opposed lengths of gallery may be the remains of a single long gallery and the whole monument may be a dual-court tomb. The grass-grown mound is well defined except at its western end. It is 40m long and 16m broad at the eastern end, narrowing to 10m at mid-length. It reaches a maximum height of c. 1m. Many kerbstones are exposed along its N and S sides. Two stretches of contiguously placed kerbstones survive on the N side. They range from c. 0.15m to 1m in exposed height. A single kerbstone, 0.7m high, survives at the broad, E end of the mound. It stands around midway between the outer end of the S arm of the court and the SE corner of the mound. At the S side of the mound there seems to be a slight inturn of the kerb in front of the subsidiary chamber. The U-shaped court is 9.5m long and 7m wide. Large transversely set entrance jambs, 0.6m apart, mark the inner ends of both of its arms. The northern jamb is 1.1m high, and the southern one is 1.15m high. Beyond this are eight stones on the S arm of the court. The stone beside the entrance jamb is 0.2m high. This may be the butt of a larger stone and is overlain by a slab, possibly a slipped corbel, that measures 2m by 1m by 0.8m thick. The heights of the succeeding courtstones are 1.05m, 0.1m, 0.15m, 0.1m, 0.15m, 0.7m and 0.85m. Beside the northern entrance jamb is a fallen stone, 0.85m by 0.5m by 0.2m thick, and resting on its western edge is a large displaced slab, 1.95m by 0.8m by 0.7m. Beyond this a gapped line of eight stones forms the N arm of the court. The outermost two are parallel to each other and so double the line of the court at that point. The courtstone nearest the entrance jamb is 1.2m high. The heights of the next five are 0.5m, 0.7m, 0.1m, 0.25m (though slightly loose, this seems to be in situ) and 1.1m. The northern one of the two alongside at the outer end of the court is 0.15m high, and the southern, partly hidden, is 0.1m high. In front of the entrance jambs is what appears to be a fallen lintel shown in heavy outline on the plan. This measures 2m by a maximum of 1.3m and is 0.7m thick. It partly overlies one of seven other displaced slabs in the court. These range from 0.7m to 1.4m in maximum horizontal dimension and are up to 0.6m thick. The gallery, c. 5m long, lacks any trace of segmentation or a backstone. It is 2.75m wide just inside the entrance jambs and narrows to 1.9m near its inner end. Three orthostats survive on each side. Beyond the innermost one on the N side is a grass-grown depression c. 1.1m long, 0.4m wide and 0.3m deep, which may be the socket of another orthostat. This feature is not shown on plan. There are three corbels in place above the outer half of the S side of the gallery and one around midway along the N side. The heights of the three orthostats on the S side from E to W are 0.8m, 0.4m and 0.5m. The easternmost of the three orthostats on the N side of the gallery is partly concealed. It is 0.3m high. The next two are 0.8m and 0.6m high. The three corbels on the S side of the gallery are next to each other. Two rest on the outermost orthostat. The easternmost of the three, its outer end partly under the displaced corbel overlying the low courtstone beside the entrance jamb, measures 1.45m by 0.4m and is 0.5m thick. The second measures 1.75m by a maximum of 0.9m by 0.3m thick. The third corbel on this side rests on the outer end of the second orthostat and partly underlies the last corbel. It measures 1.3m by 1.1m and is 0.3m thick. There are a number of indentations on the surface of this stone, which measure, on average, 50mm across and 15mm deep. These may be the 'cups' noted by Kinahan (1883-4; 1889) on what he described as a displaced roofstone resting against an upright. These cannot be accepted with any certainty as artificial. The single corbel on the N side of the gallery rests on the middle orthostat there and measures 1.2m by 0.9m by 0.5m thick. The lateral chamber is represented by four sidestones, two to the W and two to the E. This chamber, which lacks a backstone, is 0.9m wide and at least 2m long. The northern sidestone at the E is 0.3m high, and the southern is 0.2m high. The northern of the two at the W side, its outer face partly buried, is 0.6m high. The southern here is 0.4m high. The two chambers at the W end of the monument are 1.5m apart. The eastern one was at least 3m long and is 1.5m wide. It is represented by a pair of jambs at the W, three orthostats at the S and one at the N. Additionally, there is an upright stone 0.3m N of the northern jamb. The two jambs are 0.5m apart. The northern one is lm high, and the southern is 0.85m high. All three of the orthostats on the S side of this chamber have flat inner and sloping outer faces. Their heights from W to E are 0.6m, 0.8m and 0.6m. Opposite the last is the single stone, other than the jamb, on the N side. This is 0.9m high. The upright stone beyond the northern jamb is parallel to the long axis of the chamber. It now leans northward and would stand 0.8m high if upright. Although this is clearly a structural stone, its role is not apparent. Within this chamber and just E of the southern jamb is a displaced stone, now partly embedded in the ground. It is 0.65m in maximum dimension. The western chamber is 1.7m wide and was at least 2m long. It is represented by a pair of jambs at the E, three orthostats at the S and one at the N. The jambs of this chamber are 0.4m apart. The northern one is 0.65m high, and the southern is 0.8m high. The orthostat on the N side of this chamber, its inner face obscured, is 0.5m high. The heights of the three orthostats on the S side of the chamber from E to W are 0.6m, 0.4m and 0.25m. The southern one of the two large stones linking the W end of the eastern one of the two opposed chambers to the side of the cairn is lm high, and the northern is 0.85m high. Between the last and the front of the chamber is a low set stone, 0.4m high. There are a number of displaced stones at the western end of the monument, the larger of which are shown on the plan. The largest, at the southern edge of this end of the cairn, measures 2.3m by 1.6m by 0.9m, and the others range from 0.7m to 1.3m in maximum dimension. Kinahan (1883-4) has claimed that an old man he met on his visit had seen roofstones in place at this site but they were subsequently robbed for building work. If this is so, it must have taken place before c. 1845, as OS documents indicate that the monument was in much the same condition then as now (Fagan 1845-8; OS Revision Name Book, 1847-8). It is observed in the latter source that no 'covering stones' were then in place. OS Name Book, Kilmacrenan parish (1834-5), book 2, 56 (a plan and sketch of the monument referred to here have not been found); Fagan 1845-8, book 7, 23; OS Revision Name Book, sheet 45 (1847-8), 29; Kinahan 1883-4, 434; Kinahan 1