Cairn, Drumbaun, Co. Mayo

Co. Mayo |

Cairns

Cairn, Drumbaun, Co. Mayo

At Drumbaun in County Mayo, there is a site where nothing survives, and that absence is itself the point.

A cairn, the kind of stone mound raised over prehistoric burials or used as a territorial marker across the Irish landscape, was recorded here in the early 1990s. By the time anyone returned to inspect it properly, the cairn was gone.

When the location was visited in 1998, it was found that extensive quarrying for sand and gravel had taken place across the area. Whatever had stood there, stone piled on stone in a form that had endured for potentially thousands of years, had been cleared away in the interval between its first being noted and its formal investigation. No visible trace remained. The episode is a quiet but pointed illustration of how quickly field monuments can disappear, not through dramatic collapse or flood, but through the ordinary machinery of commercial extraction, which moves faster than archaeological record-keeping.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Cairn, Drumbaun, Co. Mayo. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement