Megalithic tomb - wedge tomb, Carrowmore or Glentogher, Co. Donegal
Tucked away on a boggy, west-facing hillside in County Donegal lies an ancient wedge tomb that has somehow escaped the attention of Ordnance Survey mapmakers through multiple editions.
Megalithic tomb - wedge tomb, Carrowmore or Glentogher, Co. Donegal
Located about 550 metres east of another monument, this prehistoric structure overlooks the southern end of the Glentogher River valley, with the ground rising immediately eastward towards an extensive plateau dominated by Glencar Hill. The tomb sits deeply embedded in peat on its terrace, a testament to millennia of slow accumulation around this Bronze Age burial site.
The monument consists of a stone gallery measuring 2.3 metres in length, cleverly divided by a septal stone into two distinct sections; a portico at the south-southwest end and a roofed main chamber that narrows and lowers towards the north-northeast. The entire structure is enclosed within an oval mound that stretches 7.8 metres from south-southwest to north-northeast and 5.6 metres across. This earthen mound stands half a metre high at its southern end but gradually decreases in height towards the north, where its outline becomes rather uncertain as it merges with the natural slope on the western side.
The construction details reveal the sophisticated building techniques of its creators. The portico is flanked by single standing stones on each side, set 1.45 metres apart at their outer ends and rising 0.6 metres in height. The main chamber beyond the dividing septal stone measures 1.4 metres long on its western side, widening to 1.7 metres on the eastern side due to the skewed positioning of the backstone. The chamber’s width narrows from 1.1 metres near the entrance to just 0.7 metres at the back, with the eastern side formed by three stones and the western by two orthostats. Two roofstones cover the chamber; the outer one measuring 1.1 metres long and 1.45 metres wide, whilst the inner roofstone, now largely covered by peat growth, extends at least 0.7 metres in length. Small gaps between the roofstones and the chamber walls suggest careful engineering to accommodate settling over time.





