Malin More Portal Tombs — Chamber 5

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. 5 This structure is very ruined, and its northern end is incorporated in the roadside wall. A large slab, apparently a displaced roofstone, one end of which is on the ground and overlain by the roadside wall, rests in a leaning position against the N face of an orthostat that is orientated E-W. Just 0.7m S of this orthostat is another, parallel to it. Although this is now slightly loose in the ground, it seems to be a structural stone. Both orthostats lean slightly to the N. The apparent roofstone measures 3.1m by at least 2.2m and is 0.2-0.3m thick. The stone supporting it is 1.5m high. The stone parallel to this is lm high. This may be the remnant of a taller stone, as the appearance of its top suggests that it has been broken. A further 1.6m to the S is another upright slab (not hatched on plan), which is of uncertain status and measures 0.8m long, 0.25m thick and 0.55m high. This stands at the NE corner of a low grass-grown heap of stones, measuring 1.1m N-S by 3m E-W by 0.3m high. The original form of this structure is unclear. However, if the southern one of the two hatched stones on plan was originally taller, as may have been the case, it and the northern one could have served as the portal-stones of a chamber the only other remnant of which is a displaced roofstone. In this scenario the chamber would have lain either E or W of the supposed portal-stones. Fagan's account (1845-8) indicates that the structure is now as it was in 1847. In 1871 Norman Moore (1872, 522) noted 'numbers of loose stones' around it. The Board of Works report (CPW 1887, 63) claimed that in addition to the dislodged roofstone there were five upright stones here, but a purported sketch of the structure shows three upright stones with what appears to be a large slab leaning against one of them. 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