Megalithic tomb - wedge tomb, Ballynahow More, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Megalithic Tombs
On the lower slopes of Knocknadobar, on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, a prehistoric tomb sits quietly on a shoulder of rough mountain pasture, looking out over the estuary of the Ferta river to the west.
What makes this wedge tomb particularly arresting is a detail that belongs less to archaeology than to rural life: early in the twentieth century, part of the structure was deliberately dismantled to free a farm animal that had become trapped inside. Several roof-stones were displaced in the process, and some of these still lie scattered around the site, one of them remaining inside the gallery itself.
Wedge tombs are the most numerous type of megalithic monument in Ireland, built during the later Neolithic and into the Bronze Age, generally featuring a gallery that narrows and lowers from front to back, and often oriented to catch the light of the setting sun. This example follows that pattern closely. The gallery runs roughly east-north-east to west-south-west, measures four metres in length, and tapers from 1.5 metres wide at its western entrance to just under a metre at the eastern end. The side-stones also decrease in height as they run eastward. A single cap-stone, irregularly shaped at roughly 2.9 metres by 1.4 metres, remains in position towards the eastern end, resting on pad-stones with its edges projecting out beyond the walls of the chamber. A thick deposit of peaty material has accumulated on its upper surface. Low buttress-stones, set immediately outside the side-stones on both flanks, reinforce the structure, and traces of the original cairn, the mound of stone and earth that once covered the whole monument, are still visible, particularly along the southern side. By the 1930s, observers had identified what appeared to be a separate rear chamber at the eastern end, adding a further layer of complexity to the tomb's original layout.
The site is in reasonably good condition given its age and its unscheduled dismantling. The view westward over the Ferta estuary is wide and open, and the setting on the mountain pasture gives the monument a quality of exposure that concentrated archaeological sites in lowland fields rarely have. Visitors approaching across rough grazing ground should expect uneven terrain, and the peaty surface around the tomb can be soft underfoot depending on the season.