Cairn — Aghnaskeagh

This monument, which lies 40m to the S of a portal tomb (LH004-032----), was excavated in 1935 by E. E. Evans (CLAJ 1937, 1-18). It comprises the remains of a cairn, 15m long, orientated NNW-SSE, and narrowing from about 8m wide at the S to 6m at the N. The cairn, revetted on the E and W with dry walling, incorporates four small chambers, two opening at the E and two to the W. Although Evans considered that the NW chamber may have opened to the N, the morphological evidence indicates that it probably opened to the W. Finds from the chambers included cremated bone, Neolithic pot sherds and flints, including two hollow scrapers. The chambers are clearly comparable to the subsidiary chambers found in court-tombs and hence the monument is assigned to that class; the finds are consistent with this view (PRIA (C) 1982, 336-7, fig. 39). This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 36/1934) and is also a National Monument in state guardianship: No. 326. The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 July 2007