Wedge tomb in Foilycleary

On a poorly drained S-facing slope of Knockastanna Hill overlooking Gortnageragh river valley in upland region. Poorly preserved remains consisting of three stones, two of which are prostrate (dims. 0.98m x 1.15m x 0.8m; 1.34m x 1m x 0.13m) and one orthostat (dims. H 0.75m; L 0.95m; T 0.20m) located to the SW of the former stones. Possibly the remains of a poorly preserved wedge tomb orientated on an E-W axis. Described by Crawford (1910, 41) as a 'destroyed dolmen, consisting of three stones, two of which are side by side, one pointed with the third stone located 8 feet [2.4m] distant in the same line'. Classified by De Valera and Ó Nualláin as a possible wedge tomb consisting of a single orthostat and two superimposed slabs based on the description of the tomb in the OS letters (1982, 94-5) where it is described as a tomb orientated 'east and west; it was ten feet [3m] in length and three feet eight inches [5.1m] in breadth but only four stones of it are now standing; the one on the south side is six feet [1.8m] long; four feet [1.2m] high at the west end and two feet [0.6m] at the east end, and one foot six inches [0.4m] high; the one forming the west end is six feet [1.8m] long, three feet three inches [1.6m] high and one foot thick [0.3m]; and the one at the north is three feet [0.9m] long, one foot six inches [0.4m] high and one foot [0.3m] in thickness. The flag supported by these inclines towards the east measures five feet two inches [1.57m] from north to south and four feet six inches [1.36m] from east to west and eight inches in thickness (ibid.). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011 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)

Wedge tomb, dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1000 BC). Its location on a prominent hill slope suggests it may have had ritual or funerary significance within the local prehistoric landscape.