Megalithic tomb - portal tomb, Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal
In the townland of Málainn Mhóir, County Donegal, a remarkable row of six megalithic chambers stretches across 100 metres of reclaimed pasture land.
Megalithic tomb - portal tomb, Málainn Mhóir, Co. Donegal
Located 500 metres from the northern end of Malin Bay, this westernmost group of seven megalithic tombs in the area offers commanding views across the sea to the west and north, whilst the lower slopes of Leahan Mountain rise steeply to the south. The chambers, numbered one to six from west to east, stand at irregular intervals and are split between two fields just south of a narrow road. Most are portal tombs; massive stone structures that once served as burial places for our Neolithic ancestors.
The complex presents an intriguing puzzle for archaeologists, as each chamber faces a different direction: the first faces east-northeast, the second south-southeast, the third north, and the sixth east. The varying gaps between them, particularly the 30-metre space between chambers five and six, suggest a seventh chamber may have once stood here, possibly destroyed during road construction. When Thomas Fagan visited in 1847, he documented seven chambers and claimed they originally stood within a single long cairn measuring roughly 91 metres east to west and 18 metres north to south, though by his time it was already partly destroyed by farming. Today, only scattered stones and a small mound beside the easternmost chamber hint at this ancient cairn’s existence.
The first chamber, the best preserved of the group, showcases classic portal tomb architecture with two flanking entrance stones, one sadly broken with its detached portion lying nearby. The chamber narrows from two metres wide at the entrance to 1.7 metres at the back, where an inward-leaning backstone seals the space. Its massive displaced roofstone, measuring 3.3 metres long and three metres high, now rests in front of the portal stones where it fell, its thickness tapering from 1.2 metres at what was once the front to 0.8 metres at the rear. The Board of Works carried out restoration work here in the late 19th century, though controversy surrounds the extent of their alterations; some claimed they constructed entirely new sections, whilst comparison with earlier accounts suggests the basic structure remained largely unchanged.





