Giant's Grave Megalithic Tomb — Lough Finn

This monument stands in rough pasture on the boggy saddle between Aghla Mountain to the SW and Scraigs Mountain to the E. The site overlooks Lough Finn to the N and Lough Muck to the S. The monument, deeply embedded in the bog, consists of a narrow gallery, 5m long, orientated SSW-NNE. It is described as if it lay W-E. The present floor of the gallery is somewhat below the level of the surrounding ground. There is a set stone, 0.55m high, N of and at right angles to the western end of the gallery. A slab covering the W end of the gallery may not be an original feature. There are six stones along the N side of the gallery and six along the S side. Only those definitely in situ are hatched on the plan. The westernmost stone at the S side is 0.5m high. The next, 0.5m to the E, is 0.3m high. The third stone, 0.3m beyond this, is outside the line of the first two and is 0.45m high. Approximately 2m beyond the last is a stone 0.3m high. Approximately 0.4m beyond this is a set stone 0.25m high. Immediately beside it to the E the top of another stone rises just above the boggy surface. The westernmost stone at the N side of the gallery, 0.4m high, is loose in the ground. The second is 0.15m high. There is a gap of 0.2m to the third stone, which leans outward. It is 0.4m high. The fourth is slightly outside the line of the other three and is 0.1m high. There is a gap of 0.35m to the fifth stone, 0.25m high, the eastern end of which is concealed in the bog. From the point where the E end of the last disappears into the bog there is a gap of 0.6m to the last stone on this side. This is 0.3m high. The slab covering the western end of the gallery measures 1.3m by 1.15m and is 0.2m thick. It rests on the westernmost stone on the northern side of the gallery, on a stone (not on plan) measuring 0.35m by 0.15m by 0.1m on top of the third stone at the same side, and on a displaced slab (not on plan) c. 0.5m in maximum dimension that leans against the eastern end of the second sidestone on the S side of the gallery. It is also wedged against the eastern edge of the westernmost sidestone at the S. As the two supporting stones at the N are not definitely in situ and the main supporting stone at the S is clearly displaced, there is reason to doubt that this slab is in situ. The gallery may originally have been somewhat longer, according to a report in an OS Name Book (1835) that states that the grave was then 21 feet (c. 6.4m) long. According to Thomas Fagan (1845-8), there was a 'massive oblong flag' at the site that had originally rested on the gallery sides but had been toppled long before his visit there in 1848. The remains are those of a megalithic tomb, but it cannot reliably be classified in its present state. However, the stone at right angles to the western end of the gallery could be interpreted as a facade-stone, which would suggest that this may be a wedge tomb (Ó Nualláin 1983a). OS Name Book, Inishkeel parish (1835), book 1, 26, and book 3, 138; Fagan 1845-8, book 23, 18; OS Revision Name Book, sheet 66 (1848-51), 31 (a traditional story associated with the site is recorded here, but there are no details of the monument); Borlase 1897, 239, Boylagh no. 2; Crozier 1957, 65-6 and photograph (no. 8) opposite p. 120; Killanin and Duignan 1962, 295; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 297; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 41, no. 102; SMR 1987, 66:2; Ó Nualláin 1989, 142; RMP 1995, 66:2. 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)