Gubnaveagh : Sweat House
Visit Notes
Sunday, 9th May 2004
The drive up to this lovely site is somewhat twisty and, without a map to follow, quite tricky. The end result is well worth it though.
Parking in the entrance to the trackway that follows the stream that passes just in front of the sweathouse gives you a perfect view of it embedded into the bank. The top of the corbelled roof forms a mound which stands proud of the top of the bank.
The chamber is surprisingly large: I could easily stand up inside it and if the floor hadn't been soaking wet I could have lay down across it. The entrance is about 1m tall and just 60cm or wide, and, because a spring seems to now be pouring water out of the rear wall forming a stream that runs through the doorway, getting in is rather an interesting excercise.
I'm not sure how the modern lighting along the driveway and the brightly painted piece of antique farm machinery fit in with the sweathouse, but I imagine that it might look quite magical at nighttime: it looks very grotto-esque anyway, so some dim, ambient light at night should look rather good.
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_Have you visited This Monument?
If so, give it a rating for others to seeRandom Gazetteer
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
9.2 Km (SSE) there is a Standing Stone at Fenagh.
9.9 Km (SSW) there is a Passage Tomb at Sheebeg.
6.3 Km (S) there is a Portal Tomb at Drumany.
8.5 Km (WNW) there is a Holy Well at Cleighran More known as St. Hugh's Well.
A Selection of Other Sweat Houses
 Eskerbawn (Co. Roscommon) |  Scribbagh (Co. Fermanagh) |  Cleighran More (Co. Leitrim) |
 Cornageeha (Co. Roscommon) |  Tullynafreave (Co. Cavan) |  Cartonperagh (Co. Roscommon) |
About Coordinates Displayed
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This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the coordinates I provide. Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate. Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies. The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM coordinates are slightly out. UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator - that is at the core of the GPS system. ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps. |
