6 kilometres northeast of Loughros More Bay, stands an unusual double portal tomb that offers a fascinating glimpse into Ireland’s Neolithic past. The monument at Kilclooney More consists of two separate burial chambers built into what remains of a 26-metre-long trapezoidal mound, with each chamber positioned at opposite ends and facing different directions. A modern field wall now cuts across the ancient structure between the two tombs, but both chambers remain remarkably well preserved despite the passage of roughly 5,000 years.

The larger northeastern chamber is particularly impressive, measuring 2 metres long and 1.4 metres wide internally, with its entrance marked by two matching portal stones that stand 1.8 metres high. These frame a lower sill stone, creating the characteristic entrance that gives portal tombs their name. The chamber’s massive capstone, weighing several tonnes, stretches 4.2 metres in length and slopes dramatically from front to back, resting on the portal stones at the entrance and a pad stone at the rear. When excavated, the chamber yielded fragments of plain Neolithic pottery, now housed in the National Museum, providing tangible evidence of its ancient use. The smaller southwestern chamber, though more modest at 1.5 metres long and 1 metre wide, displays similar construction techniques with its own set of portal stones, lintel, and roofstone, though the latter has slipped sideways over time.

Historical records add an intriguing dimension to the site’s story; a 1799 watercolour shows the smaller tomb’s roofstone still properly in place, but by 1847, visitor Thomas Fagan noted it had become ‘partly dislodged’, demonstrating how these ancient monuments continue to slowly change even in relatively recent times. The entire complex represents a sophisticated understanding of engineering and ritual practice, with the careful placement of massive stones creating enduring spaces that served both practical and spiritual purposes for Ireland’s earliest farming communities.