Megalithic tomb - court tomb, Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal

Megalithic tomb – court tomb, Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal

At the head of a boggy valley opening onto Malin Bay in County Donegal, the easternmost of seven megalithic tombs stands quietly in the pasture, unmarked on any Ordnance Survey map.

Megalithic tomb - court tomb, Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal

Located roughly 800 metres southeast of its nearest neighbour and 3 kilometres from the sea, this court tomb offers sweeping views westward along the valley, though Leahan Mountain blocks the vista to the southwest. The monument’s obscurity is perhaps fitting; even in the 1870s, surveyor Norman Moore mistakenly described it as a group of “five or six cromlechs”, an error that persisted in archaeological literature for decades.

What remains today is an east-facing gallery tomb consisting of at least two chambers, though its original design is difficult to reconstruct. The better-preserved rear chamber measures 2 metres long and narrows from 1.3 metres at its entrance to less than a metre at the back, defined by single orthostats on each side standing 0.7 metres high. A low gabled backstone completes the space. This inner sanctum is separated from a larger, more damaged front chamber by two well-matched segmenting jambs that stand just 35 centimetres apart, still supporting a substantial lintel measuring 1.6 by 0.7 metres. The front chamber, approximately 2.5 metres long, retains only three of its original orthostats, including what appears to be a jamb marking its outer end.



The site’s complexity is increased by later intrusions and scattered remains that hint at the monument’s original scale. About 3.5 metres east of the gallery stands a solitary orthostat of uncertain purpose, whilst between this stone and the main structure sits what may be the remnants of a 19th-century limekiln, shown on maps from 1848-50. At least six displaced slabs, ranging from 0.8 to 1.75 metres in length, lie scattered around this circular stone structure, and a mysterious line of five firmly set stones extends 3.3 metres to the southeast. If the eastern orthostat is indeed part of the original design, the complete gallery may have stretched 10 metres or more; a substantial monument now reduced to tantalising fragments in the Donegal bog.

0.0/5

Good to Know

Tags

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of IrishHistory.com
IrishHistory.com
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 Megalithic tomb – court tomb, Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal. 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: 50 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal
54.68561635, -8.73593402
54.68561635,-8.73593402
Málainn Mhóir 
Megalithic Tombs 

Related Places