What is recorded here

Wedge tomb in Gortnakilla is a broken chamber of three side stones and a fallen roof, set in cutaway bog on a ridge in County Kerry. It may have held dead people, marked a boundary, or simply watched the field for centuries before humans returned to notice it. The bog took much of the area, but this small stone chamber remained visible enough to be measured and remembered.

In rough pasture, in an area of cutaway bog with traces of pre-bog walls (KE076-056001-), on the S side of the crest of a ridge. The remains consist of a gallery (L 2.65m; Wth 1.2m at W end; Wth 0.75m at E) aligned E-W. Three sidestones form the N and S sides of the gallery. A capstone (1.95m E-W; 1.15m N-S; T 0.12m), which has broken into at least five pieces, slopes down to the S where it rests on the ground. The N side of the capstone rests on the S sidestones. There are traces of outer walling to the N and S. The wedge tomb is surrounded by a low mound which is best preserved at N. Another wedge tomb (KE076-038---) lies c. 400m to W. Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Wedge tomb, dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c. 2500–1000 BC). Its construction and alignment reflect typical features of wedge tombs found in the Irish Midlands, significant as part of a regional funerary tradition.

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