Another site that I wasn't intending to visit on this trip, but it is well signposted and I recognised the name from somewhere. It was not until I got home that I realised where.
This wedge tomb is a national monument. This monument is in a shockingly bad state! The farmer has also tried to block access into the field. The tomb is in a great condition structurally - the roofstone(s) are in place and so is all of the walling, including quite a large amount of the double walling. It occupies a place on the edge of a field next to a hedgerow. Unfortunately, the hedgerow had started to engulf the tomb and only the front 1m is visible. Even that part is disappearing fast. I wonder if it will be sorted out for the summer.
The reason I knew the name of the tomb is that the inside of the walls bears incised (scratched) markings. Only one other wegetomb has any form of art and that is Baurnadomeeny (County Tipperary). The age of the markings here are disputed amongst archaeologists, many of which do not believe they are contemporary with the tomb.
I think I'll pop back in the summer on my next Cork trip and see what state it's in then.
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. |