Cairn - burial cairn, Killycolman, Co. Donegal
In the townland of Killycolman, County Donegal, a significant Bronze Age burial cairn once stood until its destruction around 1925.
Cairn - burial cairn, Killycolman, Co. Donegal
The monument measured approximately 12 metres in diameter and reached up to 2 metres in height, constructed with a rough dry-stone wall encircling the cairn proper. Beyond this wall, the builders had carved a shallow fosse; essentially a flat-bottomed ditch that ran barely more than a metre deep and wide, which would have marked the sacred boundary of this ancient cemetery.
Archaeological records compiled by Ó Ríordáin in 1935 suggest this was no ordinary burial site, potentially containing as many as 25 individual cist burials. These stone-lined graves held a mixture of burial practices typical of prehistoric Ireland, with most bodies laid to rest as inhumations, though some cremated remains were also identified amongst the graves. The discovery of pottery vessels, including at least one preserved food vessel, indicates these were furnished burials where the dead were sent to the afterlife with provisions for their journey.
Perhaps most intriguing was the abundance of white quartz pebbles scattered throughout the cairn material, a feature common to many Irish prehistoric monuments where the gleaming stones may have held ritual significance. While the cairn itself is now lost to history, destroyed nearly a century ago, its memory persists through the careful documentation of the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, serving as a reminder of the complex burial traditions that once marked this landscape as sacred ground for our Bronze Age ancestors.





