Giants Grave — Loughgur

National monument No. 247. Wedge tomb described by de Valera and Ó Nualláin (1982, No. 4) as following: The tomb lies about 70m from the eastern margin of Lough Gur on the slope of a small hill which rises south-westwards to a height of about 400 ft. O.D. The soil in the vicinity is fairly shallow, with limestone outcrops. It provides excellent pasture and supports well-grown trees. This well-preserved tomb was fully excavated in 1938 as one item in a long series of excavations which had been conducted during the years 1936-1949 in the neighbourhood of Lough Gur. It consists of a gallery, about 8.85m in length orientated approximately NW-SE, divided by a fine septal-slab into a portico and main chamber. A closely set outer wall is virtually intact along the south side. A similar walling is represented along the north side by two orthostats and four large slabs which seem to have collapsed outwards. Between the chamber sides and the outer-wall was a packing of small stones. Four roofstones cover the main chamber and a large slab found prostrate in front of the entrance may well have been the roof-stone of the portico. At the conclusion of the excavation this stone was set upright, blocking the entrance to the portico. The portico is 1.75 m long and narrows from 1.35m wide at the entrance to 1.05m at the septal. It seems to have been about 1.3m high. The displaced roofstone measures about1.8m by 1.25m and is 0.45m thick. The septal is a fine stone, keyed into the gallery walls, and completely closing off the portico from the main chamber. It measures 2.2m long, 1.25m high and 0.75m thick. The main chamber is about 6.5m long, 1.5m wide at the septal and 1.2m wide near its eastern end. Five sidestones form the southern side and four are present on the north. Most of the side-stones lean slightly towards the north in accord with the general slope of the ground from south down to north. The southern side of the gallery extends about 1m further than the northern side and it is probable therefore that an orthostat is missing at the eastern end of the north side. A large slab, found prostrate in the eastern end of the chamber, may have been a backstone. The orthostats of the main chamber decline in height from west to east. The chamber was about 1.35m high at the west and 0.7m high at the east, measuring from roof to subsoil. The western roofstone, which measures about 2m by 1.7m and 0.5m thick, was displaced towards the north-west and rested over the north-west corner of the main chamber. The next roofstone is in position above the chamber. It measures approximately 2.2m by 1.25m wide and is 0.5m thick. The third roofstone was displaced. Its northern end still rests on a sidestone but its southern end lay on the fill within the chamber. It measures about 1.5m by 1.2m and is 0.35m thick. Near the south side of the gallery was a small upright stone which the excavators suggested would have acted as a support for the southern side of the roofstone. Since the length of the roofstone would be barely adequate to span the chamber such an explanation is, perhaps, probable. The fourth roofstone, over the eastern end of the chamber, is supported, at the south, on a padstone placed on top of the sidestone. This roofstone measures about 1.5m by 0.9m and is 0.35m thick. Like the adjoining roofstone, this slab is barely sufficient in length to span the chamber and the padstone assists in bridging the gap. The orthostats of the outer-wall on the southern side were upright save for one at the eastern end which was tilted southwards out of its socket. They are about equal in height to the gallery sidestones. The outer-wall follows the chamber sides closely, the average gap between being about 0.25m. The two orthostats still in position on the north side indicate that here also the gap between the outer-wall and chamber sides was small. The other outer-wall stones on this side had fallen outwards. Along the south side of the gallery the soil had accumulated leaving only about 0.35m of the orthostats exposed while at the north, where the ground fell away, the orthostats were exposed to a greater depth. The chamber contained a filling of small closely packed stones. The western portion had been considerably disturbed and no finds other than bone fragments and charcoal were discovered here. Under the two eastern roofstones, human bones and a considerable amount of pottery was found. A piece of human skull and some other bone fragments lay under the collapsed stone in the east end of the chamber. In the portico, under a prostrate slab, human bones and pottery were found. At a slightly lower level, under another slab, a small cist, some 0.4m by 0.4m, set at old ground level contained cremated bone and pottery. Directly under this cist a sherd of pottery and a piece of bone were found. A variety of potsherds occurred throughout the filling of the portico. Further pottery was found in the filling between the outer-wall and gallery sides. Most of the pottery was found outside the tomb. Beaker was the predominant type both within the gallery and outside it. This ware came from the main chamber, the portico and wall filling, but by far the greatest quantity was found outside the gallery, mainly to the south and west, at a high level. Very few sherds of the Neolithic A tradition were found but coarse wares were well represented. Food-vessel was also present as was Encrusted Urn. A quantity of coarse ware was found near a hearth to the south of the gallery. The flint recovered was mainly small waste flakes and scrapers of pebble flint. One small chip of a polished stone axe may have been used as a scraper. Secondary finds included a mould for a leaf-shaped spearhead and fragments of a crucible. Most of the human skeletal remains were unburnt. At least eight adults were recognised from the bones in the main chamber. Other adult remains came from the wallfilling and from outside the gallery. Besides these, four children were represented by bones found in the main chamber and immediately outside the gallery. The cremated bones from the cist in the portico were probably, but not certainly, human. The only identifiable cremated remains were a fragments of a skull from the main chamber and a hand-bone found south of the gallery. Though a considerable area around the gallery was excavated no clear cairn edge was noted. It is likely that many of the stones found within the area examined belonged to the cairn but the general stony nature of the soil and the friable limestone that underlies it, made it difficult to recognise cairn stones from others deposited naturally or by other causes such as tillage'. See linked document with details from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume IV. Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1982) Date of upload: 4 January 2012