Malin More Portal Tombs — Chamber 1

This, the westernmost of the seven megalithic tombs (National Monument no. 139 (4) in state care) in this townland, is 900m SW of the last (Dg. 90). It stands in pasture reclaimed from the bog on the floor of the valley opening onto the N end of Malin Bay, which is 500m to the W. There is a good outlook from the site to the W and N out to sea and to the E along the valley floor, but steeply rising ground nearby, the lowermost slopes below Leahan Mountain, restrict the view to the S and SE. The monument consists of a row of six megalithic chambers (DG089-008/001/002/003/004/005-) standing at irregular intervals over a distance of 100m. They are in two separate fields, three in each, just S of a narrow road and are here numbered 1 to 6 from W to E. The four intermediate chambers are in a line, running more or less E-W, c. 5m N of and parallel to a line linking the larger terminal chambers. Chamber Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 are portal tomb chambers; No. 5, though very ruined, seems also to have been one, but the original design of No. 4 is uncertain. The orientations of the four portal tomb chambers are as follows: No. 1 faces ENE; No. 2 faces SSE; No. 3 faces N; and No. 6 faces E. The orientation of No. 4 is uncertain, but in its present state it seems to have faced E. If, as suggested, the remains at No. 5 are those of a portal tomb chamber, it would have faced either E or W when intact. The distances between the chambers from W to E are 12m, 16m, 9m, 14m and 30m. The comparatively large gap between Nos. 5 and 6 suggests there may have been a further chamber between them. If there was such a chamber it may have fallen victim to the construction of the road adjacent to the complex. Thomas Fagan (1845-8), who visited the site in 1847, refers to the existence of seven chambers (see below under No. 1) but provides details of only those numbered 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 here. He claimed that the chambers had stood in one long cairn that he estimated originally measured 100 yards (c. 91m) E-W and 20 yards (c. 18m) N-S. However, it was 'defaced' and 'partly under tillage and fences' when he saw it. A small, low, stony mound, referred to below, survives alongside the easternmost chamber (No. 6) and appears to be the remnant of a cairn. Apart from this, there is a light scatter of partly buried stones over much of the eastern half of the site, but excavation would be required to determine whether these represent an ancient cairn. The Board of Works carried out work at this site toward the end of the 19th century (see Introduction), but the annual reports of that body provide little information about its nature and extent (CPW 1886, 22; 1887, 24, 63; 1888, 24). Borlase's (1897, 244-8) charge that major alterations were made to the two larger chambers (Nos. 1 and 6) is considered below. The chambers No.1 The entrance to this chamber, at the ENE, is flanked by two longitudinally set portal-stones, in front of each of which is a set stone. The stone in front of the southern portal-stone is a tall pillar-like one, and the one in front of the northern portal-stone is very low and may be just the stump of a taller stone. The southern portal-stone, also tall, is intact. However, the northern one is broken, and only the stump remains in place. The detached part of this stone lies prostrate immediately to the N of the stump. A single sidestone forms the N side of the chamber. There are two sidestones on the S side: a small stone beside the portal-stone and a large one to the W of it. Outside the adjacent ends of the southern portal-stone and the small sidestone beside it is a low stone, 0.4m high. It is not clear whether this is a structural stone. The chamber is closed by an inward-leaning backstone set between the sidestones. A large pad-stone or corbel in a sloping position rests against the S end of the backstone, and another lies above its N end. A subsidiary roofstone covers that part of the chamber behind the portal-stones. The main roofstone of the chamber lies displaced in front of the portal-stones. Measured as it stands, it is c. 3.3m long and 3m high. What appears to have been the front end of the roofstone when in place above the chamber now rests directly on the ground. This, the heavier end of the stone, is c. 1.2m thick. It lessens to c. 0.8m at the opposite, now the skyward, end. The chamber, measured from the backstone to the outer ends of the portal-stones, is 3.2m long. It is c. 2m wide immediately behind the portal-stones and narrows to 1.7m at the back. It should be noted that rising ground level to the S of the chamber obscures the lower levels of the structure on the main sectional drawing. The stone in front of the southern portal-stone leans southward slightly. It is set transversely to the long axis of the portal- stone and is 2.4m high. The low stone in front of the northern portal-stone is set slightly askew to it and is 0.5m long, 0.1m thick and 0.2m high. The two portal-stones are 1.15m apart at their outer ends. The southern one, which is slightly overlapped by the small sidestone behind it, is 2.4m high. The stump of the northern portal- stone, set inside the line of the sidestone behind it, is 0.5m high. A pecked line on the plan indicates a vertical split in this stone. The detached part of this stone is 2.6m long. Thus, when intact, this portal-stone would have been c. 3m high. The northern sidestone decreases in height from 2m at its outer end to c. lm at its inner end. It leans against the edge of the backstone. This inward lean is accentuated by the slight concavity of its inner face. The outer one of the two sidestones on the S side of the chamber is 0.5m long, 0.1m thick and 0.4m high measured at its inner face. The inner sidestone at this side leans inward. It is clear that a piece, size unknown, has been broken from the top of this stone. It is 0.3m high at its outer end, rising to 0.5m at its inner end. The backstone is gabled in outline and 1.15m high. The corbel or pad-stone leaning against the southern edge of the last also leans against the adjacent sidestone. The base of the corbel is on the ground, and it rises just above the top of the backstone. The corbel measures 1.4m by 1.1m and is 0.3m thick. The corbel or pad-stone above the N end of the backstone rests in a more or less horizontal position on the southern corbel and on the northern sidestone. It measures 1.2m by lm by 0.1m thick. The subsidiary roofstone is 2.85m long (E-W), narrows from 2.1m wide at the front to 1.4m near its opposite end, and is 0.3m thick. It rests on the northern sidestone and on both corbels and slopes down from front to back. A small stone is wedged between the northern end of the backstone and the northern sidestone. This is shown on the cross-section accompanying the plan. Another small stone wedged between the top of the broken sidestone at the S and the southern end of the backstone is also shown on the sectional drawing. A third small stone, not on plan or section, is wedged between the roofstone and the northern edge of the northern corbel. This measures 0.2m by 0.15m by 0.1m thick. Borlase (1897, 245) claimed that the Board of Works constructed the roofed part of the chamber behind the portal-stones. This claim may have had its origins in his reliance on a brief and imprecise earlier account of the monument (N. Moore 1872, 521-2), which seems to have led him to the erroneous belief that the roofstone now in place behind the portal-stones had originally rested on the tall stones at the front (E end) of the structure. Fagan's account of the monument, the earliest available, describes it as 10 feet (c. 3.05m) long, 4-51/2 feet (c. 1.2-1.7m) wide and 2-4 feet (c. 0.6-1.2m) high. It is clear from his account that the front of the monument was then as it is now. Of that part of the monument behind the portal-stones, he observed that the 'western part of the grave is covered by a flag 10 feet [c. 3.05m] long, 6-7 feet [c. 1.8-2.15m] broad and l-11/2 fee