What is recorded here

Westropp saw water-worn channels on the capstone before the tomb was raised, proving the stones crossed generations before becoming a grave. The chamber narrows from west to east like a throat releasing breath, while flat slabs near the west end suggest bodies lay beneath rather than behind. The tomb remains unaltered inside a living field system, preserving the exact moment when human hands stopped touching it.

On a gentle SW-facing slope in rough pasture within a large multiperiod field system (CL009-059001-). Indicated and named ‘Cromlech’ on the 1842 and 1920 eds. of the OS 6-inch map. Described by de Valera and Ó Nualláin (1961, 32-3; attacahed) as a well-preserved, E-W-oriented trapezoidal wedge tomb (L 2.75m; Wth at W 1.75m, narrowing to 1.35m at E; H at W 1.95m, dropping to 1.3m at E) embedded in the centre of a grass-covered oval mound (c. 12m E-W; c. 10m N-S; est. H c. 1.2m). A stone (L 0.9m; H 0.4m) was set upright on its long edge (aligned NW-SE) in the NW part of the mound. The tomb chamber comprised single limestone slabs at each side, with dressed top edges supporting a capstone (L 4m; Wth at W 2.5m, Wth at E 2m; T 0.15-0.2m). On the upper face of the latter Westropp (1901, 291) had noted two ‘curious channels, but manifestly water-worn, probably ages before the block was raised’. The N sidestone (L 3.7m; H at W 1.9m, H at E 1.3m; T 0.2-0.3m) had a vertical crack running through its W centre. The top edge of the S sidestone (L 4.1m; H at W 1.6m, H at E 1.25m; T 0.2-0.25m) was broken near the W end by a natural cavity (D 0.4m). Only the base of the E endstone survived (L 1.1m; extant H 0.35m; T 0.15m), its top obscured by a drystone wall. There was a 0.12m gap between this slab and the N sidestone, although de Valera and Ó Nualláin (ibid.) suggested that this endstone may have originally closed the entire E end of the chamber. The slab at the W end of the chamber (H 1.95; L 1.1m; T 0.15m) abutted the N sidestone, and had a straight S edge. There was a 0.65m gap between this endstone and the S sidestone. The top N corner of this endstone was broken, relatively recently in de Valera and Ó Nualláin’s (ibid.) view. The interior of the chamber was lower (D c. 0.5m) and undulating. At least three slabs (Wth 0.25-0.5m) were laid flat near the W end, and perhaps another near the E. An inspection of the tomb in 1997 found it unaltered. The following items have been uploaded: CL009-059086-_01.pdf Details from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume I. County Clare. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1961) CL009-059086-_01.jpg View of tomb from W CL009-059086-_02.jpg View of tomb from NW Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 5 April 2022

Wedge tomb, dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1000 BCE). Its presence in a multiperiod landscape highlights its role in early funerary and ritual practices of the region.

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