What is recorded here

Beneath a long mound on the cliff edge above Lacken Bay, two narrow chambers waited for centuries before a road-cut exposed them in 1990. Thin shale slabs, set like the walls of a forgotten room, still stood beside compact sand floors where no bones remained. The bay light may have fallen through gaps in the roof when the chambers were new, marking death and memory on the same steep edge.

Located beneath an elongated mound (MA008-010001-), on a cliff edge overlooking the E side of Lacken Bay. This is one of two cists (see also MA008-010003-) discovered in 1990 during the Fás-sponsored construction of a road, which cut through the mound. A rescue excavation of the cists was undertaken in the same year by the National Museum (NMI Reg. No. 1990:54) (Cahill and Sikora 2011, 102-6). This cist (int. 1.62m E–W; 0.48m N–S; H 0.4m) had been disturbed, but remained largely intact. It was trapezoidal in plan, constructed of thin, shale slabs set on edge. The N side was formed of two slabs, one of which was exceptionally long (L 1.14m); three slabs formed the S side. Single slabs closed the E and W ends of the grave. It was roofed with flat slabs, six of which were found in a disturbed condition. Hard, compact sand formed the floor of the cist. No skeletal remains survived (Cahill and Sikora 2011, 102-6). The second cist (MA008-010003-) was situated 0.85m to NW, also beneath the mound. The exact relationship of the burials to the mound is uncertain. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 1 July 2019

Slab-lined burial in Carrowsteelagh is a Bronze Age cist tomb, dating to approximately 2000–800 BCE. Its location on a cliff edge suggests a deliberate choice for burial placement, possibly reflecting ritual or social significance in the landscape.

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