Situated on the edge of Howth Castle's rhododendron gardens this portal tomb lies a broken, sad monument. The two portal stones still stand ( although one is leaning and may be close to collapse ) and the door slab is still in place, but the huge, rough capstone has slipped, moving the chamber walls and the rear supporting stones.
The capstone measures about 5m x 4m x 1.2m thick and is not finished in any way at all, remaining as rough as the day it broke off the overlooking face of Muck Rock. It must have looked like a giant warty lump when it was in place, in fact it still does.
This is by no means the prettiest of tombs, but the surrounding flowers must make it quite surreal in the early summer.
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_All Sites Visited On 13th January 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
Back to one of my favourite places to get some better images and actually measure this monster. These measurements surprised even me. The portal stones are each 2.5 high, 1.5m deep and 70cm thick - this makes them weigh about 7 tonnes each.
The capstone is a massive 5m long, 4.5m broad and 1.8m thick - this means it weighs around 80 tonnes if the uneven thickness is accounted for.
I was also able to study the displaced stones that used to form the chamber before its collapse. These are all similar in size and shape and the three slabs formed a 1.6m cube. What interested me was that it had the same design as the Onagh (County Wicklow) and Larch Hill (County Dublin) tombs.
The portal is aligned southeast.
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_As I was on Howth again I couldn't resist revisiting this beauty. This time I approached from the south, scrambling over Muck Rock and down into the rhododendron gardens. What a time of year to visit! All the colours!
The paths immediately around the tomb have been improved, but in the trees they are still pretty muddy.
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_| Steph from Dublin |   |
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_From Dublin city centre take the R105 north and follow the signs to Howth. Carry on along this road until you see the signs for the Transport Museum to the right, this is Howth Castle. Turn in and follow the road past the castle itself until you come to a golf course car park. Park here and walk around the clubhouse on the right-hand side. You will see a footpath entering into the rhododendron gardens. This path splits immediately beyond the hedgerow. Turn right and follow the path for about 100m, looking to your right all the time, ignoring all the rock fall on the left. You will either eventually come to the dolmen or a paved path that leads to it depending on which little route you take.
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
 Middletown (Co. Cavan) |  Annadorn (Co. Down) |  Carrowroe (Co. Galway) |
 Knockanbaun (Co. Sligo) |  Ballyhenebery (Co. Kilkenny) |  Tamlaght (Co. Tyrone) |
