Giants Graves — Kilmonaster Middle

This monument consists of a cruciform passage tomb standing close to the western edge of a large mound. The mound has been planted with trees, and its original perimeter is distorted by fences, but it appears to have been round in outline and c. 23m in diameter. It is now c. 1.5m high. A number of kerbstones can be identified, some of quartz. There are a large number of scattered quartz fragments on the surface of the mound. The surviving tomb structure is 7m in overall length, and it is aligned approximately W-E. Little now survives of the passage, which is entered from the W, but it was at least 3m long. The northern transept, at right angles to the inner end of the passage, is 1.1m long and narrows from 1.lm wide at the front to 0.9m at the back. A large roofstone, possibly somewhat displaced, covers this chamber. The southern transept is set somewhat askew to the main axis of the monument. It is 1.2m long and 0.9m wide at the front, narrowing to 0.7m at the back. The end chamber is 2.4m long and 1.5m wide. The stones of this chamber are somewhat taller than those of the transepts. Fagan 1845-8, book 10, 30; de Valera 1960, 71, fn. 224; Ó Nualláin 1968b, 5-8 (plan, photographs); Herity 1974, 214, Dg. 1; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 36, no. 75 (plan); SMR 1987, 70:66; Ó Nualláin 1989, 127; RMP 1995, 70:63. Kilmonaster Middle (Site A) 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 No archaeological significance NGR 22734 39764 Excavation Licence No. 05E0801 Pre-development testing was carried out on 18 July 2005 at a site in advance of its development at Kilmonaster Middle townland, Ballindrait, Co. Donegal. The proposed development, which consisted of the construction of a silage pit, dung pit, effluent containment tank and dry-bed cattle shed, was located within the constraint area for an archaeological complex, the Kilmonaster Passage Tomb cemetery. The nearest monument of the complex, a passage tomb, was 5m from the proposed containment tank. The cattle shed was 24m from the same monument. As the groundworks involved in the construction of the cattle shed consisted of four pits (1m by 1m by 1m deep) located along one side of the proposed structure, it was decided to concentrate the test-trenches at the proposed containment tank location. Three trenches were excavated, which measured 16.3m, 33m and 36.3m long, 0.9-1.3m wide and 0.1-1m deep. Below the topsoil were fill, grey/brown friable silt loam, orange/brown loose loamy sand and bedrock. A number of modern pottery sherds and one worked piece of flint were found in the topsoil. The fill consisted of soil and rocks and was located along the line of a field boundary. The friable silt loam contained a small number of animal bone fragments (from a calf) at c. 0.3m below the surface. The loamy sand was sterile. The landowner had informed me prior to the testing that livestock had been buried along this field boundary in years gone by, so the finding of bone was not a surprise. The stray find of worked flint in the topsoil was also not surprising, considering the proximity of the passage tomb (Excavations Bulletin 2005). Richard Crumlish, 4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo.