The climb to the summit of this conical peak in the Ox Mountains isn't too bad if you start from the farm to the south. The last part of it is quite steep, but not too long. The top of the mountain is just 30m x 25m and on this tiny area someone decided to build a passage tomb. This tomb has the distinction of yeilding the oldest ever radio carbon date in Europe for such a structure at around 4500 bce.
The remains of the tomb are not very impressive. It was of an undifferentiated design, which means that the chamber was just a widening of the passage. There are three stones on the south side, two at the rear and one on the north side. In the heather there is a low sill stone.
As well as having orthostatic walls the passage and chamber are sunk into a rock-cut trench in the mountain top. Building this monument involved a lot of work.
The views from up here are simply stunning. Even on a cloudy, winter's day you can see so much: Knocknarea to the north, Knocknashee to the southwest and Carrowkeel & Kesh to the south east. Beyond Knocknarea would be King's Mountain and Bunbulben, but they were hidden in clouds while I was up here.
I usually visit a site, take a good look at it and move on to the next. Not today. I sat ato this lonely peak for 3 hours! What a great place.
Click Thumbnail to View Full Size Image
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_All Sites Visited On 2nd November 2008 « Previous Site Next Site »
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
 Knocknagin (Co. Meath) |  Slievethoul (Co. Dublin) |  Knocknagin (Co. Meath) |
 Carrowmore Tomb 58 & 59 (Co. Sligo) |  Ashley Park (Co. Tipperary) |  Slievethoul (Co. Dublin) |
