What is recorded here

Three metres of cracked stone still stand on flat rocky ground, facing the ocean and guarding a chamber filled with forgotten bodies. The tomb belongs to a group of four wedge structures scattered across the field, suggesting a community that buried its dead beneath open sky rather than deep earth. The roofstone leans against the east wall like a discarded tool, while nearby field walls absorb slabs torn from the chamber. People may have walked this exact spot for centuries, stepping over bones and building walls from the remains of the dead.

On flat rocky ground with higher ground to the E and commanding views of the ocean from SW to NW over the Clare Coast and Galway Bay and within a large field system (CL004-027001-). It is one of four wedge tombs (CL004-066002-, CL004-066001-, CL004-071---- and CL004-073----) known as the Ballynahown group in the Megalithic Survey (De Valera and Ó Nualláin 1961, 41). A poorly preserved wedge tomb with a SSW-aligned chamber (est. L c. 3m) which rises toward the front and is surrounded by a low mound (est. diam. c. 9.5m; H 0.6-0.75m). It was recorded in the Megalithic Survey as CL. 45 (De Valera and Ó Nualláin 1961, 40) (although the orientations cited in the written description are incorrect). The E side stone remains in situ (L 3.5m; H 1.3m at SSW; H 1.15m at NNE; T 0.1m); it is cracked towards the centre and the top edge is broken but traces of dressing are visible. A slab (L 3m; Wth c. 1.9m; T 0.1m), most likely the roofstone, leans against its W face. Field inspection in 1998 noted that the interior is filled with large, flat stones. Long flat slabs incorporated into the nearby field wall c. 30m to the E may originally have formed part of the tomb. Another wedge tomb (CL004-066001-) is located c. 91m to the S. The following items have been uploaded: CL004-066002-_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). CL004-066002-_01.jpg View from N CL004-066002-_02.jpg View from NNE Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Lynda McCormack Date of upload: 14 June 2022

Wedge tomb, dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1000 BCE). Its location offers strategic views of the surrounding landscape, suggesting possible ritual or territorial significance.

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