Megalithic tomb, Rowantreehill, Co. Donegal
On a ridge crest above the River Erne basin, about 4.6 kilometres southeast of Ballyshannon, stand the weathered remnants of what was once a megalithic tomb.
Megalithic tomb, Rowantreehill, Co. Donegal
Today, only two large standing stones, or orthostats, remain to mark this ancient burial site. The southern stone lies east to west and rises 0.65 metres high with a flat top, whilst 3 metres to its north stands another substantial block, a metre tall with an uneven crown, oriented north to south. Their size and positioning suggest they were once part of a larger structure, though the tomb type remains unclassified due to its fragmentary state.
The monument has been in ruins for quite some time; records from around 1850 describe it much as it appears today. A modern field wall now runs just north of the remains, incorporating what may be additional stones robbed from the original structure. About 8 metres northwest of the northern orthostat, two large stones, each roughly a metre across, are built into this wall and may have originally belonged to the tomb. The site commands impressive views in all directions from its prominent hilltop position, a location likely chosen deliberately by its Neolithic or Bronze Age builders.
Perhaps most intriguingly, reports from the 1830s tell of a cinerary urn discovered here containing ashes and several large bones, suggesting the site served its intended purpose as a place of burial. Whilst time and stone robbing have left us with only these two sentinel stones, they stand as enduring markers of prehistoric ritual and belief, their precise arrangement hinting at the careful planning that went into creating these monuments to the dead thousands of years ago.





