Ancient Grave — Tawlaght

The monument lies 2.3km E of Lough Derg. It stands near the base of a S-facing slope in wettish land amid hilly terrain overlooked from the E by Crockkinnagoe, the summit (1194 feet (c. 364m) OD) of which is 1.2km to the E. The outlook from the site is restricted except to the SE, where there is a view along the catchment area of the River Termon to Lower Lough Erne, c. 7km distant. The monument, a gallery preceded at the E by a largely concealed court, stands in a large, roughly oval cairn. Peat, c. 0.1-0.15m thick, covers much of the cairn, the southern side of which is overgrown by heather and furze. The cairn surface is disturbed in the area immediately around the gallery, where its stony character is evident. The NE sector has been partially robbed, and the material has been used to build two field fences, one alongside the cairn and another running south-eastward from the front of the gallery. The cairn is 23.5m long (E-W) and 13m wide. It survives to the height of the gallery orthostats, c. 1.5m, and obscures their outer faces. The tops of three stones of the N arm of the court can be identified. The tops of the outer two are flush with the surface of the cairn. The innermost one, a pointed stone, rises 0.4m above the cairn surface. Almost directly opposite this and 0.7m SE of the front of the gallery a set stone rises 0.45m above the cairn surface. It may be a courtstone, but as this is uncertain it is not hatched on the plan. Lying in the court area, 2.5m from the front of the gallery, is a displaced slab, 1.6m by 0.6m by 0.35m thick, and 1m beyond this, on the field fence, is another, measuring 1.45m by 0.6m by 0.3m thick. The gallery is 6m long. Its outer part is c. 2.2m wide, and it narrows to c. 1.5m at around mid-length and beyond this widens to 1.8m before narrowing slightly toward the back. The evident narrowing of the gallery at around mid-length seems to indicate a division into at least two chambers. Apart from a lintel above the entrance, it lacks roof stones, although corbelling survives along both sides. In 1952 the gallery was filled to around half-height with displaced stones and collapsed cairn material. In 1981 the front one-third of the gallery was cleared, exposing a doorstone at the gallery entrance. It is understood that this work was undertaken as part of a security operation. A short time later a large flint knife was recovered from spoil cleared from the gallery (C. Cotter, pers. comm.). This doorstone had already been exposed in the mid-19th century (see below). Two transversely set entrance jambs, 0.6m apart, flank the doorstone, which is around half their height. The northern jamb is 1.6m in exposed height, c. 0.2m taller than the southern jamb. The doorstone is 0.8m in exposed height. The northern jamb rises 0.8m, and the southern one rises 0.6m, above the top of the doorstone. The lintel above the jambs is a flattish slab with rounded ends. It measures 2.15m by 1.2m by 0.6m in maximum thickness. There is a single pad-stone, 0.25m in maximum dimension, interposed between the top of the northern jamb and the lintel. There are three such stones, the largest 0.4m in maximum dimension, between the top of the southern jamb and the lintel. Five orthostats remain on the S side of the gallery, and four are visible along the N side. A backstone is set just beyond the gallery walls. The first orthostat on the S side, the top of which is obscured by a layer of peat, is c. 1.5m in exposed height and appears to be around the same height as the entrance jamb. It rises 0.3m above the top of the second orthostat. This stone is set inside the line of the last, a position in which it could have acted as a jamb. The inner end of this orthostat is concealed. It is 0.85m in exposed height. The third orthostat marks the narrowest part of the gallery. It rises 0.2m above the level of the fill in the gallery and c. 0.1m above the top of the second orthostat. This too could have functioned as a jamb. The fourth orthostat on this side is the same height as the third. It rises c. 0.4m above the fill in the gallery. The fifth orthostat, the same height as the third and fourth, also rises 0.4m above the fill. The top of the first orthostat on the N side of the gallery, like its counterpart on the S side, is hidden by peat and sod-grown cairn material. It is 0.9m in exposed height. The second orthostat is set askew to the end of the last so as to narrow the chamber, and its inner end is concealed by fill. This is also 0.9m in exposed height. Beyond this stone and inside the line of the gallery the uppermost 0.1m of a flat-topped stone rises clear of the fill. It is the same height as the two orthostats. The status of this stone (not hatched on plan) is not clear. Immediately W of it a displaced slab rising from the fill lies across the gallery. This measures 1.1m by at least 0.6m and is at least 0.1m thick. North of this the faces of two separate stones are exposed at the side of the gallery. Both are around the same height as the orthostats on this side, but it is unclear whether they are structural stones, and they are not hatched on the plan. Beyond these are two sidestones. These match the two on the S side in that they are disposed so as to widen the gallery before narrowing it again toward the backstone. These are of about equal height. Both rise 0.55m above the fill in the gallery. The backstone is 0.5m in exposed height. It rises 0.3m above the top of the adjacent sidestone at the S and 0.2m above that to the N. It is of uniform height along its length, and its top is bevelled inwardly. Two large stones lie prostrate in the gallery. That toward the front measures 1.35m by 0.8m by 0.25m thick, and the other, partly buried at the back of the gallery, measures 1.85m by at least 0.4m by 0.25m thick. There are two tiers of corbels along the inner two-thirds of the S side of the gallery. Four corbels remain of the lower tier, and one survives of the upper. The outermost of the four lower corbels measures 0.9m by 0.8m and is 0.25m thick. This rests on cairn stones behind the second orthostat. The second corbel measures 0.95m by 0.8m by 0.3m thick and rests on cairn stones behind the third orthostat. The third corbel overlies the fourth orthostat on this side and measures 1.05m by 0.8m by 0.25m thick. There is a small pad-stone, 0.15m across, between the two. The fourth corbel, 0.95m by 0.9m by 0.35m thick, rests on the outer half of the innermost orthostat. The single corbel of the upper tier overlies the junction of the third and fourth corbels of the lower tier and measures 1.2m by 1.1m by 0.25m thick. Corbelling survives at both ends of the N side of the gallery. At the front is a corbel that leans toward but does not touch the end of the lintel. This is supported on three packing-stones, the largest 0.6m in maximum dimension, jammed against the outer face of the entrance jamb. The corbel measures 0.75m by 1.2m by 0.3m thick. At the other end of this side of the gallery there are three corbels, two of a lower tier and a lone corbel of an upper tier. The outer one of the lower two overlies the junction of the two orthostats at this end of the gallery and measures 0.95m by 0.7m by 0.25m thick. The inner one, 1m by 0.9m and up to 0.3m thick, rests against the innermost orthostat here and on small packing-stones beside it. The lone corbel of the upper tier leans against the inner one of the lower tier and measures 1m by 0.9m by 0.3m thick. Beyond the N side of the gallery there are five slabs rising at an angle from the cairn surface. All appear to be displaced corbels. Four lean away from the gallery, and one, the westernmost, leans toward it. This measures 0.7m by 0.6m by 0.25m thick and is 0.5m N of the inner end of the gallery. Less than 1m to the E are two more, N (0.8m by 0.7m by 0.2m thick) and S (0.7m by 0.5m by 0.15m thick) of each other and 0.5m apart. East of these are two others also roughly N and S of each other and 0.5m apart,