Megalithic tomb in Knockagarran

This monument stands in an open space just below the summit of a conifer-planted hillside c. 4.5km SW of Convoy village and commands an extensive outlook northward across the basin of the Deele River. The monument is very ruined and difficult to interpret. A narrow gallery-like feature overlain by a displaced roofstone stands toward the S end of a grass-grown mound of oval outline measuring 6m NW-SE by 4.5m NE-SW and 1m in maximum height. Three large prostrate slabs, 0.2-0.35m thick, lie on the mound close to the structure. Other, smaller stones, not on plan, also lie at the site. A single stone marks the SE end of the gallery-like feature, and four others, two to the N and two to the S, run north-westward from either end of it. The space enclosed by the set stones has been dug to a depth of 0.4m. The two stones to the S are relatively tall and support the displaced roofstone in a sloping position above the structure. The roofstone, 2.15m by 2.05m by 0.3m thick, oversails the other three set stones and rests on the ground at the N. The western one of the two orthostats at the S rises 0.8m above the surface of the mound and 1.2m above that of the lowered interior. The eastern is set slightly outside the line of the western and is approximately the same height. It leans against and rises 0.5m above the flat top of the single stone at the SE. The top of this stone is flush with the surface of the mound, and its inner face has been exposed to a depth of 0.35m. The eastern one of the two orthostats at the N rises 0.1m above the top of the last. It leans northward and is exposed to a depth of 0.5m at its inner face. The western stone here has been exposed to a depth of 0.6m at its southern face. This leans to the S and, although it is firmly set, it is not certain that it has not been displaced. The remains could be taken to represent a narrow gallery at least 2m long, but an alternative interpretation would be to regard the two tall stones at the S as representing the side of a gallery that has otherwise been destroyed or remains concealed. The two stones opposite these could be taken as representing an outer wall, and the stone at the SE a buttress stone. Further investigation would be required to establish which, if either, of these interpretations is correct. In its present condition the tomb must remain unclassified. Ó Nualláin 1983a, 42, no. 108; SMR 1987, 69:30; Ó Nualláin 1989, 142; RMP 1995, 69:30. 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)