'The Druids' Judgement Seat' : Portal Tomb
Visit Notes
Thursday, 21st March 2002
You will not find this on the OS maps, nor will you find much mention of it elsewhere. I am not sure if people are ashamed of it, as I suppose some must be.
The current monument dates to the Victorian period when someone destroyed the three tombs here and built a chair from the stones. In the 18th century the site was described as - "three small cromlechs surrounded by a circle of upright stones, about 135 feet in circumference, and, at the time of its first attracting attention, in the 18th century, when everything pre-historic was attributed to either the Druids or the Danes, it was assumed to be a pagan temple ... near the circle was discovered at the same time an ancient burying-place, and some stones with curious markings, which are still to be seen."
Unfortunately, the curiously marked stones are no longer to be seen and the monument now consists of the "chair" and two huge slabs, still upright, one of which is over 4m long. This slab has been carved to appear to be three smaller slabs.
It seems tha tthe nearby 'burying-place' was a huge kist cemetery where scores of slab lined graves were found.
A curiousity in the midst of suburban Dublin. Little known about and rarely mentioned. I think all visitors to my house will have to have a photo taken sitting in "The Druids' Judgement Seat".
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Saturday, 30th March 2002
Made a quick stop off to take pictures of the rest of the family. The great feeling of calm mixed with the madness of this place still exists, so it wasn't just first impressions.
Thursday, 11th April 2002
The first stop in my little 4 hour guided tour of south Dublin sites for two friends, Holy McGrail and Abbey.
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Wednesday, 1st May 2002
People that know this site would expect nothing less than this site to appear on any mini tour that I give to a friend. Unfortunately the seat itself was soaking wet and so Scott escaped appearing in the 'rogues gallery'.
Saturday, 6th May 2006
I thought I'd resume my little project of getting a photo of all the people I take on tours at The Druids' Judgement Seat. It is getting a little overgrown again, but not too bad.
Saturday, 30th April 2011
I was in the area so I decided to pop in to the Druids' Judgement Seat to see how it was being kept up. The area is still well-maintained, which is great to see. I took a little video, too, while I was here.
Like this monument
Marked Sites
Directions
Head north on the Ballybrack-Killiney road and just after passing the Martello tower in Killiney turn left into Killiney Avenue. Continue over the odd junction at the end, turn into the first right and park. Just after the turn in you will see a little path disappearing into the trees and this is where you will find this odd monument.
Random Gazetteer
A Selection of Other Portal Tombs
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. |
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