Megalithic tomb, Gortmacall More, Co. Donegal
Standing at the southwest end of a low ridge about 3km from Mulroy Bay's inner reaches, this enigmatic megalithic monument offers commanding views across the pastoral landscape towards Lough Fern, nearly a kilometre to the southeast.
Megalithic tomb, Gortmacall More, Co. Donegal
The site consists of several large stones that appear to be the remnants of what was once a more complete prehistoric structure, now partially incorporated into a hedge-grown field fence that runs through the middle of the monument.
Three stones on the north side of the fence appear to be in their original positions, forming a slightly curved line running northwest to southeast for about 3.7 metres. These stones, ranging from 0.8 to 1 metre in height, likely represent one side of what may have been a megalithic gallery tomb with a distinctive bellied outline. Additional stones of uncertain status stand nearby, including two substantial stones on the fence’s south side; one reaching 1.5 metres high and another measuring 1.7 metres in length. The configuration suggests these megaliths once formed part of a chamber, though centuries of field boundary construction have obscured their original arrangement.
Local folklore adds an intriguing dimension to the site’s history. An 1848 Ordnance Survey Revision Name Book records that residents knew the monument as the ‘Giant’s Bed’, describing it as six stones arranged in a circle about 1.8 metres in diameter, with two supporting a capstone or ‘flag’. This oral tradition, combined with archaeological evidence, suggests the structure may have been an oval chamber tomb, possibly with at least one lintel stone bridging the orthostats. While time and agricultural activity have altered its appearance considerably, the monument remains a tangible link to Donegal’s Neolithic past, when such tombs served as both burial places and territorial markers for farming communities who first shaped this landscape over 5,000 years ago.





