Drumkeelan Megalithic Tomb

This feature has been listed as a possible megalithic tomb in the SMR for County Donegal (1987) and as a court tomb in the RMP for County Donegal (1995). It stands at the N end of a boggy plateau, 350m NW of Glencoagh Lough, and on top of a quarry face with a sheer drop to the N. The feature consists of a long, somewhat ill- defined, subrectangular mound, aligned approximately E-W and measuring c. 30m long, 14m wide and up to 1.5m high. Approximately 10m from its eastern end is an open space in the mound, oval in outline, measuring 8m E-W by 7m N-S. This open area is entered via a passageway, 3m long and 1m wide, through the S side of the mound. The sides of the passageway are faced with set stones, two on each side, varying from 0.6m to 1.6m long and from 0.2m to 0.6m high. Just inside the entrance passage two orthostats are exposed at the SE section of the perimeter of the open space. The northern one is lm long, and the southern one, nearer the entrance, is 1.4m long; both are 0.7m in exposed height. The mound is covered with grass and heather, but its make-up may be largely of stones. Some sizeable stones are visible in occasional exposures, but there is no trace of any formal structure. A doubt remains about the nature of the mound. Although it may be ancient, the matter is complicated by the presence of the quarry, which has been in operation since at least the first half of the 19th century; it is shown on the original OS 6-inch map (1835-6). Although the open space here bears a resemblance to a court at the centre of a long mound, it is also possible, particularly in the light of the doubts about the origin of the mound, that it is some form of small enclosure of uncertain date. The nature of this feature as a whole remains to be determined. SMR 1987, 93:5; RMP 1995, 93:5. 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