Magheracar Passage Tomb

This monument is an undifferentiated passage tomb standing toward the eastern side of a kerbed mound at the edge of a sea cliff. The approximate northern half of the mound has been lost to the sea. Originally round in outline, it measures 20m in diameter E-W. The kerb turns inward in front of the entrance to the tomb. There is a gap between the kerb and the front of the tomb, which faces SE and is 4.5m long and c. 1m wide. According to Wood-Martin (1887-8; 1888), bones, ashes and a cinerary urn were found here 'many years ago'. Excavation, in 1986 and 1987, revealed a division of the tomb by sills into four compartments (Cody 1987; 1988). A considerable quantity of bone was recovered from the site. Among the objects found were a miniature stone axehead, flint scrapers and fragments of a single stone bead. BLL Stowe MS 1024, folio 177; Fagan 1845-8, book 15, 33; Wakeman 1876-8a, 105 (this site appears to be one of those referred to as occurring on the coast at Bundoran); Wakeman 1878-82, 62 (two sketches); Wood-Martin 1887-8, 156-7 (plan, sketch); Wood-Martin 1888, 158-9 (plan, sketch); Borlase 1897, 236-7, under Tirhugh nos. 4, 5, 6 (The first he describes is a dolmen-circle…'); Lockwood 1901, 87-8 (sketch, fig. 6, and plan, fig. 6a); Killanin and Duignan 1962, 114; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 128; Ó Nualláin 1968b, 23, no. 23; Holly 1973, 268-9 (plan); Herity 1974, 10 (fig.), 215, Dg. 13; Ó Nualláin 1983a, 39, no. 90; McGreevy 1986; Cody 1987; SMR 1987, 106:11; Cody 1988; Killanin and Duignan 1989, 84; Ó Nualláin 1989, 128; RMP 1995, 106:11. 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 1986 Excavation The monument, an undifferentiated passage tomb in a semi-circular kerbed mound, is at the edge of a sea-cliff, 5m high. The kerbed mound, 20m in diameter E-W, was assuredly originally circular, its northern half now lost to the sea. The tomb, facing SF, is 4.5m long and scarcely more than 1m wide, and stands 2.5m inside the eastern edge of the kerb. Prior to excavation, its N side and back survived intact, but only two stones (one broken) of its S side. Within the tomb, 0.5m from the front, a sill-stone was visible. Because of its proximity to the cliff edge, about 0.2m at one point, the tomb is under threat and so an excavation, at the request of, and funded by, the National Monuments Branch of the Office of Public Works, was undertaken at the site over a five week period during September and October 1986. The excavation was largely confined to an area 4m wide extending eastwards from the back of the chamber to and beyond the kerb. The grass-grown mound, which extends for some 5m outside the kerb, is made up of earth and stones, some quite sizeable. A large kerbstone directly in line with the tomb is positioned slightly inside the circumference described by its fellows, and at either side, as if to highlight it, are two smaller stones. The kerbstones are rounded or oval in shape, the latter type set with a long side on the ground, and, where necessary to prevent toppling, supported by small rounded beach stones. Almost the entire tomb area was excavated, revealing, in addition to the sill-stone visible before excavation, two others between it and the back of the tomb, while across the front of the tomb two stones set side by side formed a double sill. The sills divide the tomb into four compartments, from the front approximately 0.5m, 1m, 1m and 1.8m in length. A large stone with smaller stones alongside served as a floor covering in the second compartment from the front. Between the kerb and the front of the tomb, stones had been laid flat on the ground to form what appears to be a pavement. A considerable quantity of fragmented bones, some pieces with charcoal attached, was found in the tomb. The bones were dispersed throughout the earthen fill and extended under the bases of the sills and in the case of the two inner compartments to the level of the uneven underlying rock. Objects found include a small number of flint scrapers, some pieces of chert, some small sherds of prehistoric pottery, three fragments of a single stone bead found close together, a broken length of bone bearing concentric semicircular scores, a possible decorated pin, and a miniature stone axe-head, 5cm long. Eamon Cody, Ordnance Survey, Dublin 1987 Excavation A second and final season's excavation was undertaken at this site over a six-week period during September-October 1987. The work was carried out at the request of the National Monuments Branch of the O.P.W. who also funded it. The monument is an undifferentiated passage tomb standing towards the eastern side of a kerbed cairn sited on a sea-cliff. The cairn measures 20m east-west but only 10m north-south as its northern half has been lost to the sea. Three cuttings were made in the cairn and, in addition, excavation of the tomb area (the focus of the 1986 season's work see Excavations 1987) was completed. A cutting, 19m long, was made from the back of the tomb to the west along the cliff edge and was continued for 8m beyond the kerb. The other two cuttings, parallel to each other and 4m apart, both 2m wide, ran approximately north-south. The more westerly of these was 10m long and extended inwards for 4m and outwards for 6m from the kerb, while the other, 12m long, extended inwards for 4m and outwards for 7m. Both of these cuttings crossed a grass-grown trackway that runs east-west just outside the kerb at the south side of the cairn. This trackway had been formed by a levelling of the extra-revetment material. At the west and south sides of the cairn two kerb-stones and parts of two others were exposed. These form part of a contiguously laid setting of large blocks of local stone. The cairn body, under a sod cover some 0.15m thick, is of stones and intermixed loose brown earth to a depth of some 0.5m. The stones in its upper 0. lm are small and do not exceed Olin in maximum dimension while below them there are large slabs as much as 1J.8m across and 0.2m thick along with occasional water-rolled boulders. Under the cairn there is a compact layer, on average 50mm thick, of sticky earth, brown to blue-grey in colour, with small stones. This layer contained flecks of charcoal and occasional fire-reddened stones, reflecting pre-cairn activity. Finds made were confined to this layer and consist largely of waste flakes of flint and other stone. One of the few recognisable types is a leaf-shaped flint arrowhead, 30mm long. Eamon Cody, Ordnance Survey, Dublin Excavation licence number 00E0544 The two proposed houses were located to the west of Bundoran, in the townland of Magheracar, Co. Donegal. Both sites are close to an existing dwelling. The first was within the walled paddock to the west of an old house, and the second was a replacement to existing outbuildings to the north of the older structure. Owing to the presence of four significant archaeological sites in the vicinity, a passage tomb, a wedge tomb and the sites of two standing stones, the surrounding ground has been scheduled by Dúchas The Heritage Service. The testing of the two proposed sites uncovered nothing of archaeological significance. Indeed, it proved that previous groundworks in the paddock field and scarping in the yard to the north of the existing house had removed all archaeology in these specific areas. In the paddock, the over-deepened soils at the southern end of the field allowed for the insertion of a closed sewerage system without the need to disturb subsoil. Other services were likewise brought to site without the requirement for any subsoil disturbance. The second house, located in the yard to the rear of the existing cottage, was to be found on the footprint of existing outbuildings, the floor levels of which are lower than the severely scarped exterior ground. Sewerage will