Court tomb in Finner

This monument is one of three megalithic tombs in this townland that first came to notice at the end of the 19th century. They were found among sandhills on the S side of the mouth of the River Erne around halfway between Ballyshannon and Bundoran. The tomb described here stood close to one of the others, a passage tomb, but it has not been possible to find either of these. It is known that they stood somewhere in the considerable part of the townland that since 1890 has comprised Finner military camp. They may lie hidden under blown sand. The third tomb in this townland, a cruciform passage tomb, is still extant on the grounds of the camp. A sketch by Wakeman (1878-82) dated 1880, now in Sligo County Library, of the unlocated tomb described here is reproduced below. The caption to the sketch reads: ' “Giant's Grave”, near ruined carn on sandhills near Ballyshannon. 11 stones still standing. Length 16 feet [c. 4.85m]—Breadth 7 feet [c. 2.15m]. Drawn for Colonel Cooper by W.F. Wakeman June 11, 1880.' The 'ruined carn' is the unlocated passage tomb mentioned above. A slightly different version of Wakeman's sketch has been published by Borlase (1897), who seems to have relied on the former for information about the monument. Borlase remarked that the monument lay E-W, but it is unclear what he meant by stating that two stones on the N side of the structure seemed to have formed part of an enclosing circle. In a brief comment Wakeman (1896) remarked that the stones had suffered greatly from the action of the elements. A drawing of the tomb made around twenty years after Wakeman's sketch indicates that some of the taller stones may have been lost in the intervening period (Lockwood 1901). Wood-Martin (1887-8; 1888) has referred to a 'rude cist' measuring 141/2 feet (c. 4.4m) long and 6 feet (c. 1.8m) wide that stood around fifty paces from a ruined cairn. The ruined cairn is the unlocated passage tomb mentioned above, and it is likely that the 'rude cist' is the monument described here. It should be noted that Borlase considered the 'rude cist' to be a separate site from the one here described. On the basis of the available information, principally the Wakeman sketch, which depicts a long megalithic gallery, the monument is tentatively classified as a court tomb. The tall stone to the left of the sketch may be a courtstone or jamb, and the stone at the right, apparently of split-boulder type with flat inner face and sloping outer face, seems to be set across that end of the gallery and may be a backstone. Some of the taller stones along the gallery may be segmenting jambs. Wakeman 1876-8a, 105; Wakeman 1878-82 (sketch); Allingham 1879, 109; Wood-Martin 1887-8, 159; Wood-Martin 1888, 161; Wakeman 1896, 299; Anon. 1897a, 81; Anon. 1897b, 1536; Anon. 1897c, 712-13 ('Muldoon's Grave' may refer); Borlase 1897, 238 (sketch after Wakeman), under Tirhugh nos. 7-11; The Donegal Independent, 12 February 1897 ('Muldoon's Grave' may refer); Lockwood 1901, 89 (drawing, fig. 9); de Valera 1960, 132, DG. 17; Emerson 1986, 55 (quoting from regimental news sheet of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers of September 1898: 'a large square set, surrounded by high stones' may refer); Ó Nualláin 1989, 117. 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).