This slightly, but well, restored portal tomb is set in the most idyllic wooded glade. There is a fallen upright just outside making it similar in design to the dolmen at Kiltiernan Domain (County Dublin) and is probably of an early form that is half court tomb, half dolmen(?) as there appears to be traces of a small courtyard to the front.
Being situated in a dip, sheltered by trees but in the open, this dolmen can be seen from above as you approach via one of the back gardens which makes it very unusual.
It can be accessed from one of two ways, either via Dolmen House (although this path appears not to have been used for some time) or from the lane to the rear.
With the sun shining this is a beautiful site. This site is also known as Cabinteely Dolmen or Brennanstown Dolmen.
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_All Sites Visited On 8th September 2001 « Previous Site Next Site »
The location of this site never fails to amaze me, my companians were suitable impressed too. I got some great pictures on this trip. We did knock and ring and shout at the house but got no answer and so wondered down to see this great dolmen. I was surprised to find that I had forgotten how big the capstone actually is.
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_All Sites Visited On 11th April 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
Great. For once the residents were in and so I was able to ask permission to go down this time, which was gladly given. There was a wry smile on his face as he said, "Sure. If you're willing to brave the wet." How right he was! My feet were soaked by the time we got to the bottom of the valley. At least it had stopped raining by now.
All Sites Visited On 1st May 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
On this visit the moon was at the head of the valley looking down on us. The sun was out and Julian loved the place. Even I take this marvel for granted a little now and to see a fresh reaction to it always reminds me how good it really is.
All Sites Visited On 27th September 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
After knocking on the door of Dolmen House and asking a bewildered Australian if we could go down to the tomb, we ended up sheltering for a while in the wonderfully accommodating chamber.
All Sites Visited On 7th December 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
After struggling down the overgrown path and then through the brambles and nettles we reached the clearing at the bottom of this small valley. I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for this magnificent tomb, because it is very overgrown at the moment: I've never seen it this bad before. This really needs sorting out, because a rowan tree has taken root in the small courtyard to the rear of the chamber and brambles are slowly consuming the monument. As can be seen at Ballyglass (County Mayo) and others once this happens there is little hope of seeing the monument in all its glory again.
I shall contact Duchas to tell them of the tombs current situation and try to get them to sort it out before too much damage is done. If they had sufficient funding, so that regular checks could be carried out of these monuments Ireland's Heritage (something that the country is supposed to be proud of) would be a lot safer. As it stands within a few years a great deal of it will be lost, just for the sake of money, which is quite ironic when the country relies on its Heritage to generate money.
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_Not wanting to travel far this weekend gave me the perfect excuse to try out the alternative 'back way' to Glendruid that I'd recently been supplied with (see misc entry).
It was quite marvellous to be here without bothering the people in the house above and the walk to the site is quite amazing too. As the person that very kindly supplied the route says, it's incredible that this sort of wild walk exists on the edge of the city.
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_Standing next to this tomb, in the snow, on Christmas Day was a special treat for me. The photos don't really demonstrate how wonderful the scene was, but those of you that know the site will be able to imagine.
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_I believe that around this time of year the sun should be high enough in the evening to light up the front of the tomb, so I popped by to check it out. I was either half an hour too early or it won't happen for another few weeks. I'll be back soon to check it out.
The path from Brennanstown Vale has been cleared, including the removal of the large tree that you used to have to scramble over.
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_A beautifully sunny Good Friday with the day off and news that Glendruid has been cleared. I had to come along and see for myself. Sadly I picked the wrong time of day for this time of year. I should have thought ahead and realised that the sun would be on the side of the tomb and that the portals would be in shade.
The clearance job has made a big difference. There are now no weeds of plants within 1.5m of the monument. Unfortunately, whoever cleared it didn't see fit to completely clear the patch of brambles just to the south of the tomb.
The back way to the tomb is a little tricky right now. The works associated with the Cherrywood spur of the Luas line have completely messed it up. Trees felled from the top of the banks have been left blocking the pathway along the river in several places. Hopefully, they'll tidy this up soon.
I took the time to take some detail shots of the tomb. While I was doing this I noticed something that I can't remember seeing before: the groove in the top of the capstone is well-documented, but today I noticed that there are short grooves at right angles to the main groove. These would have presumably helped direct water into the main channel. They appear at both ends of the main groove.
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_| david marlborough from dublin |  |
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_From the N11 take the Cabinteely turn off and follow the road to wards Carrickmines. On the left, about 100m after a sharp right hand bend, you will see a house called Glen Druid and another called Dolmen House. The tomb is in a dip behind these houses.
The Alternative Route:
From Brennanstown Road turn into Brennanstown Vale. Follow the road around until you reach a turning circle in the road. Park around here. Just past the turning place there is a small trackway that leads to a gate. Walk down here and turn left after the gate - this is a disused railway line. Walk along the well-worn footpath until it crosses the river. Make you way down to the river bank (either climb down the 2m tall wall or carry on for a while along the railway track until you find a place where you feel comfortable making the descent). Carry on in the same direction for a few hundred metres. Eventually you will see that the trees on both banks open up and the capstone of the tomb should be visible on the far bank. Ford the river with great care here and you are at the tomb.
Please be very, very careful if following these directions. This is still not an easy route, but it is nicer than scrambling down the steep bank from the houses above.
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
 Birrinagh (Co. Longford) |  Rathkenny (Co. Meath) |  Annadorn (Co. Down) |
 Keerin (Co. Tyrone) |  Sandville (Co. Derry) |  Malin More (Co. Donegal) |
