Not indicated (1952–4) — Ballymunterhiggin

This monument, not shown on any edition of the OS 6-inch map, is just over 2km S of Ballyshannon, standing inconspicuously amid outcropping rock in gently undulating pasture. The mountain peaks of the northern parts of counties Leitrim and Sligo dominate the skyline to the S, and those of SW Donegal that to the Wand NW. The structure consists of a large oval central court with a lateral entrance to the S and two opposed galleries, each of two chambers, opening off its narrow E and W ends. In addition, there are three subsidiary chambers opening onto the court, two of them close together at the N and the third at the S just W of the entrance. The southern subsidiary chamber stands more or less opposite the western one of the two at the N. It has been suggested that some buried stones to the E of the court entrance may be the remains of a fourth subsidiary chamber (Ó Nualláin 1976, 95, 106), but further investigation would be required to determine whether this is so. The structure is incorporated in a long grass-grown mound bounded by a kerb in a fair state of preservation. The cairn, as outlined by the kerbstones, is oval in plan. It measures 40.5m E-W and is 16m wide at mid-length, from where it narrows to either end. The mound is best preserved at the E, where it is 0.5-0.75m high. It has slipped somewhat beyond the limits of the kerb in places. Around 30 kerbstones, hatched on the plan, can reliably be identified, and it is likely that others lie buried. The lone kerbstone 3.5m E of the northern subsidiary chambers is 0.4m high. Two kerbstones beside each other at the NE, the western one slightly inside the line of the eastern, are 0.4m and 0.3m high. The six close together at the eastern extremity of the cairn range from 0.lm to 0.5m high, and the lone kerbstone at the SE is 0.3m high. The westernmost of four adjoining the E side of the entrance to the court is slightly inside the line of the other three and indicates a slight inturning of the kerb here. These are between 0.3m and 0.5m high. The two kerbstones beside each other c. 4.5m W of the entrance to the court are 0.3m high. Beyond the back and N side of the western gallery are fifteen kerbstones next to or close to each other. These vary from 0.1m to 1.1m high. At the SW, c. 1m inside the kerb, is a gapped line, 9m long, of eleven low stones, the largest 0.75m in maximum dimension. These may represent an inner kerb, but excavation would be required to confirm this. Other stones protrude from the cairn, but none is definitely structural, and these, along with some others that lie loose on the surface, are shown but not hatched on the plan. The court The entrance passage to the court, just W of midway along its S side, is c. 3.5m long. It narrows from c. 1.5m wide at the outer end to 0.7m at the inner. Four stones survive at the W side, and three on the E side. The outer stone at the W is 0.4m high; the next, 0.7m to the N, is also 0.4m high; the third and fourth are 0.4m and 0.5m high. Two of the three stones on the E side are together at the outer end of the passage. The southern one is 0.9m high, and the northern is 0.35m high. The third stone, 1.6m N of the last, is 0.3m high. The court is 12.2m long (E-W) and 8m wide. The jambs marking the entrances to the eastern and western galleries and the surviving entrance jambs of the subsidiary chambers form part of the court perimeter and generally comprise its largest stones. The opposed stones at the inner end of the entrance passage to the court also serve as courtstones. A further thirteen courtstones can be recognised. There are six at the NE between the main eastern gallery and the northern subsidiary chambers; there are five at the SE between the same gallery and the court entrance; and there is one each at the NW and SW between the main western gallery and the northern subsidiary chambers and the southern subsidiary chamber. These courtstones range from 0.15m to 0.5m high. Eastern gallery The eastern gallery, c. 7.5m long, is set slightly askew to the long axis of the court. Entry to it is between two well-matched jambs, 0.65m apart, from above which a lintel has been displaced. Both jambs are 0.9m high. The lintel, 2.4m by 0.65m by 0.7m thick, now lies in front of the jambs, with one end raised on the courts tone beside the northern entrance jamb and partly supported by another displaced stone measuring 1.55m by 0.5m by 0.6m thick. The first chamber is c. 3.5m long. It is 1.8m wide just inside the entrance jambs, widening to over 2m at the middle and then narrowing to 1.65m at the inner end. Two orthostats form its S side. The outer one is 0.25m high, and the inner is 0.4m high. An orthostat survives at either end of the N side of this chamber. The outer one is 0.35m high, and the inner is 0.7m high. Two segmenting jambs standing 0.5m apart, both partly inset in the gallery sides, mark the division between the two chambers. The northern one is 0.5m high. The southern one, which rises 0.4m above the northern, is 1m high. The inner chamber is c. 3.5m long and was c. 2m wide. Two orthostats form its S side. The outer one is 0.4m high, and the inner is 0.6m high. A single orthostat, 0.65m high, beside the northern segmenting jamb, survives on the N side. The backstone closing the gallery is set with its inner face in line with the end of the adjacent sidestone at the S, and the two are of similar height. The backstone is 0.9m in exposed height. It is more or less flat topped with sloping ends. Western gallery This gallery is c. 7m long. Entry to it is between two well-matched jambs, 0.7m apart, both of which are 0.75m high. The northern one is transversely set, and the southern is set slightly askew to the S side of the gallery. The jambs support a lintel, now somewhat displaced, which measures 2.2m by 1.25m by 0.7m thick. Just S of the southern jamb is a prostrate slab, 1.2m in maximum dimension. The outer one of the two chambers is 2m wide and c. 3.5m long. Three orthostats, two of them small and the third a large stone, form the N side of the chamber, and a single large orthostat remains on the S side. The outermost stone at the N is the same height as the adjacent entrance jamb. The second orthostat here is 0.lm high; and the third is 0.4m in maximum height. On the S side of the chamber the entrance jamb rises 0.3m above the top of the orthostat there, which is 0.5m high. The segmenting jambs, both set longitudinally, are l.lm apart at their inner ends. The southern one, 0.6m high, is skewed somewhat so that its outer end is partly in line with the side of the first chamber and its inner end is inside the line of the second chamber. The northern jamb, 0.5m high, is set inside the line of the gallery side. Approximately 0.6m N of this and at the outer edge of the gallery wall there is a set stone 0.25m high. This is clearly a structural stone. Between the two jambs, and parallel to them, there is a low set stone, 0.3m high. The status of this stone is not clear, and it is not hatched on the plan. The second chamber is c. 3.5m long. The front half of it is 2.45m wide, and it narrows to 1.65m at the back. Two orthostats form each side, and it is closed by a backstone with a flat top and sloping ends. The outer one of the two orthostats at the N is 0.5m high, and the inner one, skewed so as to narrow the back of the chamber, is also 0.5m high. The outer orthostat at the S side is 1.2m high. The inner stone here is the same height as the backstone, 1m high. Western of two subsidiary chambers at north This chamber, like the other two subsidiary chambers, stands at right angles to the main axis of the monument. A courts tone, 0.3m high, seems to have served as a transversely set entrance jamb to the chamber, which appears to have been 3m long. Apart from this stone, the front one-third of the chamber is missing. The remainder of the chamber is represented by two stones at either side and a flat-topped backstone. Approximately 0.8m N of t