Malin More Portal Tombs — Chamber 4

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. 4 The original design of this structure is uncertain. Five orthostats and a slightly displaced roofstone remain of what seems to have been a small low chamber c. 1.5m across, now open to the E. A sixth orthostat, just beyond the open end, is of uncertain function but may be part of an entrance feature or perhaps an indication that the original structure was more extensive than it now appears. A single orthostat, 0.7m in maximum height, forms the W end, possibly the original back, of the structure. The N side, represented by two orthostats, and the S side, represented by a single orthostat, converge on the western stone. The western one of the two stones at the N is 0.35m high, and the eastern is 0.3m high. The single stone at the S is 0.6m high. A lone stone 0.5m high stands at the open E end of the structure. The roofstone, from the southern edge of which a piece may have been broken, covers the greater part of the space described by the five orthostats. One end rests on the western orthostat, and the other end has slipped from the top of the lone orthostat at the E and now rests on the ground. It measures 1.9m by 1.5m and is 0.2-0.3m thick. The sixth orthostat, 0.25m beyond the roofed element, is 0.85m high. There is a grass-grown mound of uncertain age, apparently of stone, to the S of the structure. This measures 2.5m by 2.5m and is 0.7m high. Old cultivation ridges adjoin the southern side of the mound. A Board of Works report (CPW 1887, 63) claimed there were two chambers here, each 4 feet by 4 feet (c. 1.2m by c. 1.2m), then filled with rubbish. It was proposed 'to examine carefully the debris around the structures, taking care not to disturb the stones', but the results of this examination, if it took place, are not known. Like Norman Moore's account (1872, 522), the Board of Works report noted what may have been cairn remains between this and the next chamber (No. 5). Accounts of the structure by Fagan (1845-8), Norman Moore (1872, 522) and Borlase (1897, 247) are all brief and imprecise, but there is nothing in any of them to support the claim in the Board of Works report that there were two chambers here. A purported sketch of the structure that accompanies the Board of Works report sheds no light on the matter. Fagan 1845-8, book 20, 12-20 (sketches); Fergusson 1872, 226; N. Moore 1872, 521-2 (nos. D I-D VI with rudimentary sketches of Nos. 1, 3 and 6 above); M. Stokes 1882, 19 ('six dolmens' at Glencolumbkille may refer); CPW 1886, 22; CPW 1887, 24, 63 (with sketches of Nos. 1-5); CPW 1888, 24; Anon. 1890-91a (with two sketches of No. 1, p. 260 and p. 262, and one sketch of No. 2, p. 261); Doherty 1891, 108-9; Borlase 1897, 244-8, Banagh nos. 3-8 (sketch of No. 1 on p. 246); RSAI photograph collection (c. 1900); H. Morris 1947, 41, no. B5; Crozier 1957, 70 ('the famous dolmens at Malinmore'); de Valera 1960, 135, no. 34; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 292; Ó Nualláin 1968a, 294, 298, no. 16; Herity 1971, 27, no. 31; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 32-3, nos. 61-6 (photograph of No. 1); Ó Nualláin 1983b, 95, Donegal no. 20; SMR 1987, 89:8; Ó Nualláin 1989, 124; Herity 1990, 49, no. 36 (photograph of No. 1); RMP 1995, 89:8. 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/ revision: 06 January 2010