Dolmens Are a Girls Best Friend

Ballybrack : Portal Tomb

CountyDublin
Grid RefO 255 233
Longitude6° 7' 11.08" W
Latitude53° 14' 42.88" N
Nearest TownBray (4.5 Km)
OS Sheet50
UTM zone29U
UTM x692175.00473583
UTM y5903423.9121131
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Visit Notes

Saturday, 25th August 2001

This dolmen is a most surprising site. As you come around an island on the Ballybrack Road there it is, sitting in the center of a green, surrounded by council houses. A nearby bus stop was occupied by a teenage girl when I visited and she looked at me like I was from Mars or something. The tomb itself is very small, measuring just 5 ft high, but is still quite cute.

Sadly, the capstone has been vandalised with a red spray can, which although fading is still vivid enough to drawn attention.

There is a single, deep cup mark in the capstone that is about 4cm across.

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All Sites Visited On 25th August 2001    « Previous Site

Thursday, 15th November 2001

I revisited this stone with a German friend, Gabi, purely because of its incredible location that provides a stark contrast to nearby Ballyedmonduff (County Dublin), which we also visited.

All Sites Visited On 15th November 2001    Next Site »

Thursday, 11th April 2002

Stop number two on today's little tour. I tried to recreate the photograph of this tomb that appears in Antiquities Of Old Rathdown (see reviews) but failed totally. It must have been taken with a very wide angle lens.

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All Sites Visited On 11th April 2002    « Previous Site    Next Site »

Wednesday, 1st May 2002

Well, as I always say - This place is incredible. Scott ascribed an almost comedic value to its location. I think I have to agree somewhat. Still, it's such a contrast to what people expect that it is always worth stopping off at.

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Saturday, 13th May 2006

The red paint has disappeared from the capstone now, but some white paint has appeared on one of the portal stones.

I also noticed something rather nice about the southern portal stone - it has a thin layer of quartz covering its outer face.

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All Sites Visited On 13th May 2006

Saturday, 5th January 2008

I suppose with its urban setting it's hardly surprising that this stone should get vandalised at some point. Inevitable as it may be it was still shocking to see the capstone daubed with white paint.

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All Sites Visited On 5th January 2008

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Old Images

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Directions

Follow the N11 from Dublin and take the Shankhill turn off. Carry on until you reach a T junction and turn left. Follow this road and you will see the dolmen in a clearing on the left after about 1 mile.

Miscellanea

This site used to be known as The Greyhound's Bed.

A friend of my daughters told me that when they were kids and used to play around this dolmen their grandparents used to tell them that if they ran around it 10 times and then through it 10 times and looked up at the large tree opposite they would see ghosts in the tree.

Random Gazetteer

A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments

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5.6 Km (SSW) there is a Cross at Fassaroe (Co. Wicklow).
1.3 Km (S) there is a Cross at St. Anne's Church Shankhill known as Kiltuck.
2.2 Km (SW) there is a Round Tower at Rathmichael known as Rathmichael Church.
3.9 Km (NE) there is a Promontory Fort at Dalkey Island.
5.4 Km (W) there is a Cross at Stepaside Public Golf Course known as Jamestown Cross.

A Selection of Other Portal Tombs

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