Megalithic tomb - court tomb, Shalwy, Co. Donegal

Megalithic tomb – court tomb, Shalwy, Co. Donegal

Nestled in a rocky coastal valley in County Donegal, this court tomb stands as one of three excavated monuments of its type in the area, positioned on a low knoll between its two neighbours.

Megalithic tomb - court tomb, Shalwy, Co. Donegal

The site, first documented in detail during the 1950s, reveals a substantial long cairn stretching 37 metres in length, with a distinctive crescent-shaped façade at its front and a straight rear end. The cairn reaches its greatest width of 14.5 metres across the front of the court, narrowing to about 7 metres at the back, and rises to a maximum height of around 2 metres near the inner end of the gallery.

Excavations conducted between 1966 and 1969 uncovered a wealth of archaeological evidence spanning multiple periods. The pear-shaped court, measuring 8.5 metres long and nearly 8 metres at its widest point, yielded numerous Neolithic artefacts including flint scrapers, knives, and a leaf-shaped arrowhead. The gallery itself, approximately 6 metres long and divided into two chambers, revealed distinct occupation layers; whilst the front chamber produced Neolithic pottery fragments and flint implements, the rear chamber contained evidence of later Iron Age activity, including metalwork, pottery, a glass bead, and a bone comb. Animal bones were found throughout, along with an intriguing razor-clam shell discovered beneath the backstone’s edge.



The monument’s construction showcases sophisticated Neolithic building techniques, with dry-wall revetment along the cairn’s sides and corbelling visible along both sides of the gallery. Two well-matched entrance jambs, standing about 1.5 metres high, frame the gallery entrance, supporting a doubled lintel arrangement that remains one of the tomb’s most striking features. Though parts of the cairn had been robbed before excavation began, the surviving structure offers remarkable insights into both its original grandeur and its long history of reuse, having served communities from the Neolithic period through to the Iron Age.

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Herity, M. 1987c The Finds from Irish Court Tombs. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy of Ireland 87C, 5-281. Flanagan, L.N.W. 1967 The excavation of a court cairn in Shalwy..Co. Donegal. Royal Irish Academy Annual Report 1966-7, 23-4. Flanagan, L.N.W. 1968b The excavation ..of a..court cairn in Shalwy..Do. Donegal. Royal Irish Academy Annual Report 1967-8, 22. Flanagan, L.N.W. 1969 The excavation..of a..court cairn in Shalwy..Co. Donegal. Royal Irish Academy Annual Report 1968-9, 18-19. Flanagan, L.N.W. 1970 The excavation of a court cairn in Shalwy, Co. Donegal and another in Croaghbeg. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Annual Report 1969-70, 20-21. Killanin, M.M. and Duignan, M.V. (3rd edition; revised and updated by Harbison, P.) 1989 The Shell Guide to Ireland. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan. Killanin, M.M. and Duignan, M.V. 1967 (2nd ed.) The Shell guide to Ireland. London. The Ebury Press. Lacy, B. with Cody, E., Cotter, C., Cuppage, J., Dunne, N., Hurley, V., O’Rahilly, C., Walsh, P. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1983 Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century A.D. Lifford. Donegal County Council. Ó Nualláin, S. 1989 Survey of the megalithic tombs of Ireland, vol. 5, Co. Sligo. Dublin. Stationery Office. Fagan, B.K. 1845-8 Ordnance survey, Hill Drawing Antiquity Books. Ms. Books 1-25. Compiled 1845-8 by Thomas Fagan. National Archives. Flanagan, L.N.W. 1977b Court graves and portal graves. Irish Archaeological Research Forum 4(1), 23-9. de Valera, R. 1960 The court cairns of Ireland. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 60C, 9-140.
Shalwy, Co. Donegal
54.62476053, -8.54555719
54.62476053,-8.54555719
Shalwy 
Megalithic Tombs 

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