Cashel Town Wedge Tombs

This monument is I.5km N of Dunkineely village. It stands on a low N-S-aligned ridge in boggy land broken by rock outcrops. There is a good all-round outlook from the site except to the NE, where it is limited by Drumbardack Hill, 0.7km distant. To the SW is a view of the sea at McSwyne's Bay, c. 2km away. What appears to be a pre-bog field wall approaches the site from the W. Trees have been planted in this area, but an open space has been left around the structure. This monument consists of the remains of a round kerb c. 10m in diameter enclosing three galleries, each facing SSW, set side by side. This complex structure stands in a low round mound, not more than 0.5m high. The mound extends 0.75-2.5m beyond the kerb and measures 13.5-14.5m across. A layer of heather-grown peat on top of the surviving roofstones indicates that the monument was covered by bog, probably until recent centuries. The usual W-E convention is not followed in this description. Twelve kerbstones survive in situ. A single one at the N is 0.6m high. Six more form a curved line at the NE. Their heights from N to S are 0.6m, 0.8m, 0.1m, 0.15m, 0.1m and 0.2m. A single kerbstone at the ESE is 0.5m high. A single one at the S is 0.2m high. Three contiguous ones at the W are the tallest of the surviving kerbstones. Their heights from S to N are 1.4m, 1m and 1.2m. Immediately inside the northern two of these is a set stone, 0.2m high. The galleries, set close together, stand between 0.5m and 1.2m apart. The backs of the galleries stand more or less in line c. 3m from the kerb at the N. The front of the western and middle galleries now end just short of the kerb. Whether the front of the galleries originally articulated with the kerb is not known. The western gallery The western gallery, now open to the SSW, is 5m in overall length. A septal-stone divides it into a portico and a main chamber. A large roofstone, possibly slightly displaced, covers almost the entire main chamber. There is a considerable amount of grass-grown fill in the gallery. The portico, 1.15m in maximum width, was at least 1.9m long. Approximately 0.3m S of the outermost of the three orthostats forming the western side of this element of the structure there is a slab, 0.3m high, at right angles to the line of the gallery. This stone is not securely set and cannot be relied on as a structural stone. It is not hatched on the plan. Just N of its western end is a partly buried stone, 0.45m in maximum dimension, which is probably displaced. The middle one of the three orthostats forming the W side of the portico overlaps the other two. The heights of these three stones from S to N are 0.4m, 0.3m and 0.7m. Two orthostats remain on the eastern side of the portico. The outer of these, 0.3m high (like its counterpart opposite), overlaps the inner orthostat, which is 0.55m high. The septal-stone is inset in the gallery sides and extends beyond them. It is 0.25m in exposed height and around half the height of the adjacent sidestones. The main chamber is 2.7m long. Two opposed orthostats survive at either end. Those immediately behind the septal-stone are only 0.45m apart. That to the W is 0.9m high. It rises 0.4m above that to the E, which may originally have been taller. Next to the N end of the last is a partly buried, displaced stone, at least 0.3m in maximum dimension. The other two orthostats stand immediately inside the backstone. The western one is 0.6m high, and the eastern is 0.45m high. The backstone is 0.6m high measured at its inner face. The large roofstone covers all but the front 0.5m of the main chamber. The N end of this great slab rests on top of the backstone, on the adjoining sidestone at the Wand against the top of the inner face of the E sidestone. Its SW comer rests on the western sidestone at the S end of the chamber, and its SE comer rests on fill. It measures 2.4m N-S, narrows from 1.5m wide near its S end to 1m at the N end, and is 0.35m thick. Although it is slightly displaced, its disposition clearly indicates a decrease in gallery height from SSW to NNE. The middle gallery The middle gallery is 6.1m in overall length. Two orthostats standing end to end and slightly askew to each other divide the gallery in two. The portico, to the SSW, 2.5m long, is represented by two orthostats of its western side. The outer stone is 0.4m high, and the inner, 0.6m to the N, is 0.35m high. The segmenting stones are both 0.8m high, approximately the same height as the adjacent sidestones. There is a gap of 0.2m between the western one and the W side of the gallery. A displaced slab, 1.2m by 0.45m by 0.15m thick, lies across the gallery immediately N of the last two stones. Its original function is not clear. The main chamber is 3m long, and it narrows from 1.3m wide at the S to 1m at the N. Five orthostats form each side. The heights of those at the W, from S to N, are 0.7m, 0.9m, 0.8m, 0.7m and 0.7m. Between the third and fourth of these a low stone (not hatched on plan), 0.1m by at least 0.25m by 0.25m high, fills a gap between the orthostats and may be part of the original structure. A slab, 1m by 0.4m by 0.2m thick, lies flat on top of the fourth of these five orthostats. The heights of the five orthostats on the E side of the chamber from S to N are 0.7m, 0.4m, 0.6m, 0.7m and 0.4m. The backstone, which is somewhat lower than the sidestones, is set beyond the ends of the gallery sides. It is 0.7m high at its inner face. A large roofstone that covers the greater part of the main chamber may have slipped northward somewhat. It is 4m long, 1.8m wide at mid-length, narrowing to either end, and 0.3-0.4m thick. It rests on the two innermost sidestones at the E side of the chamber and on the slab, mentioned above, laid on one of the sidestones of the W side. The disposition of the roofstone indicates a decrease in chamber height toward the N. A hole c. 1m across and 0.4m deep has been dug into the floor at the NE corner of the main chamber. The eastern gallery The eastern gallery is 2.5m in overall length and stands alongside the northern half of the middle gallery. It is 0.6m wide at the open SSW end and widens to 0.8m at the back. It is roofed by a single slab. This structure is incomplete, and what survives appears to be the greater part of the main chamber of a gallery similar in design to the other two. The claim in an OS Revision Name Book (1847-9) that the entire structure, i.e. the three galleries, contained six 'caves' would support this. Three sidestones remain at either side of this gallery, and there is a backstone at its northern end. Gaps between the orthostats suggest that there may be sidestones missing. The heights of the orthostats at the W from S to N are 0.15m, 0.25m and 0.25m. The outermost stone at the E side is 0.4m high. The next, 0.3m high, is split vertically into two uprights. This is indicated on the plan with a pecked line. It was 0.3m thick when intact. The innermost stone here is 0.4m high. The backstone, set beyond the W side of the gallery, does not achieve full closure and may be broken. It is 0.35m high. The roofstone is 2.4m long, 1.5m wide and 0.3m thick. It rests on the outer two orthostats on the E side of the gallery and on a small thin stone (not on plan) resting on top of the middle orthostat on the W side. Unlike the roofstones on the other two galleries, this one rises slightly toward the N. Quite a number of stones lie around the site, and the more prominent of these are shown on the plan. Some are clearly displaced, and others, partly embedded in the ground, are of uncertain status. None exceeds 1.35m in maximum dimension. An entry in an OS Revision Name Book (1847-9) records that human bones of 'more than ordinary size' had a short time previously been found in a 'stone trough' in one of the 'caves' on the E side of the structure. Nothing further is known of this. This complex monument, the only instance of its kind in Ireland, seems to belong to the wedge tomb trad