After 5 hours walking around the other Ballynahown sites we reached the main target for the day. This tomb is in very good condition, but has been slightly modified.
The wall, roof and bask-stone of the gallery are all in place, forming a chamber 3m long and 1.5m tall and wide. The 'open' end has been three-quarter blocked with substantial drystone walling and a curved wall arcs out in front of this. It is rather odd looking. The photo of this site in the Archaeological Inventory shows it to have small slabs set at right-angles along the outside of the walls - buttresses - but these are now lying in a pile to one side. It was very tempting to replace these!, but I resisted.
The tomb is situated at the base of a 3m high cliff(ette) on the edge of a large area of good looking limestone pavment. There are many large, jagged slabs standing up in the grooves of the pavement.
30m to the south, on the opposite side of the exposed limestone is a massive swallow hole and another is situated 75m east.
While we where approaching this I saw a stoat, who sat and watched me as I stumbled across the bumps. Just as we arrived a bird of prey took to the air, screeching constantly. I think this was a periguine falcon. As we were leaving we saw a fox running through some old enclosures nearby. What a treat!
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A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
Knockbeha Mountain (Co. Clare) | Cahermacnaghten (Co. Clare) | Knockcurraghbola Crowlands (east) (Co. Tipperary) |
Grange (Co. Limerick) | Drumeague (Co. Cavan) | Goakstown (Co. Antrim) |