What is recorded here

Faunarooska holds two wedge tombs on a narrow ridge above the Caher valley, their angular chambers still visible beneath rough grazing and scattered stone. The larger tomb points toward the south-west, with double walls, a broken mound and displaced capstones marking a burial place old enough to predate local memory. Robinson (1977) placed the hoofmarks of the Glas Ghaibhneach cow just south-east of here, tying the quiet field to the legend of Lon Mac Liofa. Whether myth or memory, the marks suggest people once walked this ridge with the tomb already belonging to story.

Situated in rough grazing at the base of a N-facing slope, on the N-S ridge E of the Caher valley. It was recorded by the Megalithic Survey as CL.4 (de Valera & Ó Nualláin 1961, 3-4). Inspection in 1998 revealed it to be unchanged since the Megalithic Survey’s account. A second wedge tomb (CL005-013001-) is located c. 35m WSW. Orientated towards the SSW, the wedge tomb (est. min. L 3.5m; Wth at W 2.1m) comprises a double-walled chamber surrounded by a mound (8m E-W; 6.5m N-S). The chamber is largely concealed by collapsed slabs that are likely displaced capstones. The N side of the chamber is defined by four stones (L 0.2-1.45m; H 0.2-0.65m) set in a line (L 3.2m) c. 0.5m inside the N outer walling; the longest and highest of those slabs is on the western end. The S side of the chamber is defined by three slabs (L 0.5-1.1m; H 0.2-0.25m) in a line (L 2.6m). Two slabs (L 1m & 0.4m; H 0.85m & 0.4m) are set in a line across the W end of the chamber. Immediately inside, or E of these are two slabs sat on edge but not set. Five displaced slabs (L 1-2.4m; Wth 0.7-1.6m) in the interior are likely parts of one or more capstones. The N outer wall is defined by a line (L 4.1m) of seven stones (L 0.3-0.9m; H 0.1-0.3m). Only two stones (L 0.2 & 0.7m; H 0.4 & 0.6m) survive along the line of the S outer wall. The W outer wall comprises three stones (L 0.9-1.35m; H 0.2-0.9m) set in a line c. 1.5m from the W end of the chamber. The top edge of the shortest is obviously broken and two slabs (L 1.75m & 2m, Wth 0.65m & 1m) lie on top of it. Two loose slabs (L c. 1.25m) lie in the area between the W end of the chamber and the W outer wall. Robinson (1977) marks the ‘hoofmarks of the Glas Ghaibhneach cow’, of the legendary smith Lon Mac Liofa, just SE of here. See linked document with details from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume I. County Clare. (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1961). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Ros Ó Maoldúin Date of revised upload: 28 July 2022

Wedge tomb; dates to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1000 BC). Its location and orientation are typical of wedge tombs found in the Irish C Cashel and Slieve Bloom regions, reflecting a regional funerary tradition.

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