Megalithic tomb - portal tomb, Templemoyle, Co. Donegal
About three kilometres west of Culdaff in County Donegal, a collapsed portal tomb sits atop a boggy ridge dotted with rock outcrops.
Megalithic tomb - portal tomb, Templemoyle, Co. Donegal
The monument occupies a prominent position on this elevated ground, with pasture fields falling away to the south and west, whilst the sea inlet of Trawbreaga Bay can be glimpsed four kilometres to the west. What remains is a small southeast-facing chamber that has partially collapsed over time, though enough survives to reveal the tomb’s original construction.
The chamber, at least 1.8 metres long and a metre wide at its rear, retains three of its original stones in position; a backstone at the northwest end and two opposing sidestones. The backstone, which stands 0.6 metres high with a distinctive gabled profile, leans slightly inward between the sidestones, which themselves lean against it at heights of 0.9 and 1.05 metres respectively. A large roofstone, measuring 2.3 metres long and narrowing from 2 metres at the front to 1.3 metres at the back, has slipped from its original position and now rests with one end on the ground. In front of the southern sidestone lies what appears to be a displaced portal stone, a substantial slab measuring 2 metres by 0.65 metres.
Historical records from the OS Revision Name Book of 1848 provide fascinating glimpses of the tomb’s earlier state. At that time, an upright stone about 1.2 metres high was noted as having leaned southward, causing the roofstone to slip; this appears to be the same portal stone now lying prostrate. The 1848 survey also mentions that the eastern end of the chamber, now open, was then closed by a slab, possibly a doorstone or sillstone that has since disappeared. A slightly raised grassy area about five metres across beside the southern sidestone may be all that remains of an enclosing mound that once surrounded this ancient burial site.





