Megalithic tomb - court tomb, Loughnakey, Co. Donegal
Standing on a gentle slope in damp pasture overlooking Lough Nakey in County Donegal, this ancient court tomb offers a glimpse into Ireland's Neolithic past.
Megalithic tomb - court tomb, Loughnakey, Co. Donegal
The monument, curiously absent from any edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch maps, consists of the remains of an 11-metre-long gallery that opens to the south-southwest. Unlike typical court tombs, this one lacks the characteristic court area, and time has not been kind to its western side, which has been almost entirely lost. The eastern wall, however, has found a second life as part of a field boundary, its ancient stones now serving a more mundane agricultural purpose.
The entrance to the tomb is marked by two transversely set stones that function as jambs, standing just 20 centimetres apart. The western jamb rises to 1.4 metres at its highest point, though it dips sharply on its inner half, whilst the eastern jamb stands a metre high. Several displaced slabs lie scattered about the entrance, including one substantial piece measuring 1.35 metres by 0.8 metres that now sits partially buried beside a well. The gallery’s eastern side preserves six orthostats in varying states of preservation, with heights ranging from 0.4 to 0.75 metres. Two of these stones are positioned transversely to the gallery’s line, suggesting they may have served as internal divisions, potentially creating an unusually short chamber if both functioned in this capacity.
The northern end of the tomb terminates with a flat-topped sidestone and an impressive backstone that rises to 1.1 metres, narrowing from base to top in a distinctive tapered form. A corbel stone, measuring 1.6 metres by 1.1 metres, still rests atop two of the orthostats, hinting at the tomb’s original roofing structure. First documented by Kinahan in 1889 and subsequently studied by numerous archaeologists including Ó Nualláin in the 1980s, this monument represents one of many megalithic tombs scattered across Donegal’s landscape, each a testament to the sophisticated burial practices and architectural skills of Ireland’s prehistoric communities.





