Giant's Grave Wedge Tomb — Kilbarron

This monument is 4km NW of Ballyshannon. It stands amid rolling country in rushy pasture on the N side of a broad, shallow valley, c. 650m from the coast. It consists of a largely concealed gallery, orientated WSW-ENE, outside which is well-preserved outer-walling. The gallery is divided by a septal-stone into a portico and a partly roofed main chamber. Corbels have been employed in the roofing structure. A single surviving facade-stone stands at the NW angle of the monument. There is no mound visible at the site, but a considerable fill, at least some of it modern in origin, lies between the outer-walling and the gallery sides. This greatly obscures the last. The gallery is 6.3m long and narrows from c. 1.25m wide at the front to 0.75m at the back. The portico, 1.8m long, is represented by two opposed sidestones standing 1.2m W of the septal-stone. Both are 1.15m high. The western one articulates with the single facade-stone, which is lm high. The septal-stone, largely concealed, is c. 0.5m higher than the two sidestones of the portico. It may have been inset in the gallery walls and would appear to have blocked access from the portico to the rest of the gallery. The main chamber is 4.2m long and decreases in height from W to E. Four sidestones at the S, two at the N and a backstone are visible, but other orthostats may be concealed by the fill mentioned above. The two sidestones at the N are at the inner end of the chamber. The four sidestones at the S are largely hidden. The westernmost of the four is c. 0.5m high. The heights of the others and of the two sidestones on the N side are not ascertainable with precision, but they are no taller than the last. The backstone, also partly hidden, is a flat-topped straight- edged stone and seems to have been set beyond the ends of the gallery sides. It is at least 0.8m long. The corbels (not on plan) above the gallery sides are not readily accessible, but up to four layers of straight- edged regular slabs were noted above the sidestones at the S. One above the second sidestone at this side is at least 0.8m in maximum dimension and has a flat inner face. There is another flat-faced corbel above the eastern one of the two sidestones on the N side. The span to be roofed is not appreciably narrowed by the corbelling. There are two roofstones above the eastern two-thirds of the main chamber, and a third, to the W, has slipped southward and lies on the fill between the outer wall and the gallery side. This displaced slab measures 1.75m by 1.75m and is 0.25m thick. The western one of the two roofstones still in place partly overlies the eastern. It is 2.3m long, 1.7m wide and 0.25m thick, and the eastern, partly hidden, is 1.3m wide, at least 1.6m long and 0.2m thick. At the W end of the former a northward-leaning displaced slab rises from the fill in the chamber. It measures at least 0.7m in maximum dimension and is 0.2m thick. The outer-walling at the N seems to be intact. It converges on the gallery side, the gap between them narrowing from c. lm at the W to c. 0.5m at the E. There are seven outer-wall stones here. The three at the W all lean in slightly, and each narrows toward the top. Their heights from W to E are 1.75m, 1.lm, 1.45m, 0.45m, lm, 0.6m and 0.5m. Standing at right angles to the last is a single stone that represents the outer-walling at the back of the monument. This is 0.4m high and stands almost lm beyond the backstone of the gallery and parallel to it. Beside this to the S a displaced slab, at least 0.9m in maximum dimension, protrudes from the fill. The outer-walling at the S is missing outside the portico but is otherwise intact. The gap between it and the chamber side narrows from c. 1.2m at the W to c. 0.5m at the E. Seven outer-wall stones survive here, the westernmost three and easternmost two leaning out somewhat. Their heights from W to E are 1.25m, 1.1m, 0.7m, 1.1m, 0.85m, 0.85m (if upright) and 0.55m. Thomas Fagan (1845-8) visited here in 1847. It appears from his notes that the roofstone that is now displaced was then in its original position. Apart from this the monument appears to have then been much as it is now. The suggestion by Holly (1975-6, 190) that there is some form of megalithic art on the outer face of the westernmost outer-wall stone at the S cannot be confirmed. Fagan 1845-8, book 17, 37-8; Allingham 1879, 108 ('in Corker'); Lockwood 1901, 90 ('in the townland of Corker'), 91 (drawing; the caption mistakenly records the tomb as in Coolmore); Killanin and Duignan 1962, 94; Killanin and Duignan 1967, 105; Holly 1975-6, 189-91 (fig.); Ó Nualláin 1983a, 42, no. 106 (plan); SMR 1987, 107:2; Killanin and Duignan 1989, 68; Ó Nualláin 1989, 136; RMP 1995, 107:2. 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 See linked document with details from Eamon Cody, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI. County Donegal. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002) Excavation licence number 99E0544 A pre-development assessment was undertaken on 19 October 1999 at five sites (Sites A-E) within Kilbarron townland, south of Rossnowlough. The sites lie to the north (C-E) and south (A-B) of a narrow laneway running west from the main Ballyshannon to Rossnowlough road. Two archaeological sites are close to the proposed development at Site A. A wedge tomb, SMR 107:2, lies at least 53m east, and an enclosure, SMR 107:1, marked as Carrickcullen on the 1900 OS 6-inch map, lies on the opposite side of the laneway c. 40m to the north. Three test-trenches were excavated by mechanical digger at each of the five proposed development plots. They ranged from 12m to 20m long, and all were 2m wide. Site A contains the remains of a wedge tomb. Trenches 1 and 2 contained topsoil 0.3m deep over mottled, grey/brown clay subsoil with a high stone component. Trench 3 contained topsoil 0.4m deep over subsoil of mottled, orange/brown clay with numerous stones and boulders, with a rock outcrop 2m long at the northern end of the trench. Site B lay within a field immediately east of Site A. Removal of dark brown topsoil 0.26m deep revealed mottled, orange/brown clay subsoil at either end of Trench 4, with a central spread (7m long) of grey/brown subsoil containing much stone. Trench 5 revealed topsoil 0.26m deep over mottled, orange/brown clay subsoil with intermittent spreads or outcrops of rock. Trench 6 comprised topsoil 0.3m deep over a thin layer of sandy, brown loam containing fist-sized stones, in turn over the mottled, orange/brown clay. A single sherd of 18th-century brownware was recovered from the loam interface deposit. Site C was north-east of Area B within a field immediately north of the laneway and east of a small, abandoned and derelict farmyard. In Trench 7 topsoil removal to a depth of 0.32m revealed sterile, mottled, light brown, sandy subsoil, with numerous stones protruding, some flat and slab-like. Trench 8 lay on sloping ground. Removal of topsoil to a depth of 0.32m revealed mottled, orange/brown clay subsoil with intermittent spreads/outcrops of limestone. Trench 9 revealed topsoil 0.32m deep over mottled, orange/brown clay subsoil with intermittent spreads or outcrops of limestone. Site D was just over 130m north-west of Site C at the end of an overgrown, stone-lined trackway. The field was very wet underfoot during assessment. In Trench 10 topsoil consisted of wet, brown, humic peat 0.3m deep lying over mottled, grey/brown limestone boulder clay with intermittent spreads of decayed stone. In Trench 11 a peaty topsoil 0.3m deep overlay mottled, grey/brown limestone boulder clay. In Trench 12 peaty topsoil 0.3m deep overlay alternate south-east to north-west bands of limestone outcrop and mottled, grey/orange-brown boulder clay. Site E was just over 170m north of Site D at the end of an overgrown, stone-wall-lined tra