Knockeen

Nearest town:
Tramore (6km S)
OS reference:
S575065
OS sheets:
75, 76
Latitude:
52° 12' 26.69 N
Longitude:
7° 9' 31.6 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Knockeen (Portal Tomb) by Rhiannon

From ‘Grave mounds and their contents’ by Henry Longueville Jones. In Archaeologia Cambrensis, October 1870.

Image credit: G V Dunoyer
Rhiannon
Rhiannon May 7, 2016
Image of Knockeen (Portal Tomb) by CianMcLiam

You wouldn’t believe how many thorns I had to extract after diving into raw jungle to get this...

Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2008
CianMcLiam
CianMcLiam Sep 21, 2008

Articles

Knockeen

C
CARL May 27, 2011

Visited 18.5.11
My very first site visit outside of the UK and the first site of my week in Ireland – and what a way to start! A cracker of a site!
This was the first stop on the Tramore ‘Dolmen Drive’. (well worth checking out if visiting southern Ireland).
It was a lovely summers day and we parked outside the house which faced the field in which the tomb stands. The tomb is visible from the field gate, on the opposite side of the field.
Karen and Sophie stayed in the car whilst myself and Dafydd climbed over the metal field gate and headed across the field towards the tomb. The grass was waist high to Dafydd who had difficulty walking through it although he later had the last laugh as he was small enough to get into the burial chamber while I had to look from outside!
The tomb is just the other side of a stone field wall but we first had to carefully crawl under an electric fence. Once over the wall (stone steps)the tomb was a sight to behold.
About 3 metres high and comprising of two capstones – well over head height. There are 6 large uprights – 5 of which support the capstones. Unfortunately the tomb was badly overgrown with nettles and brambles.
Myself and Dafydd climbed up onto the capstone and admired the view. You could easily see into the chamber and there is room to squeeze in through the gaps. The larger gap being blocked with brambles. Dafydd was able to crawl through the smaller gap.
Someone had visited the site fairly recently and had left an ‘offering’ of bluebells on the chamber floor.
This is a great site to visit and the tomb is as perfect as you could wish to find. The only down side is the lack of signs and the maze of lanes you have to navigate through. (It took us a while to find the place) In saying that it is well worth the effort and you will not be disappointed.

Folklore

Knockeen
Portal Tomb
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Apr 5, 2016

There is a cromlech at Knockeen which consists of eight large stones. The largest stone weighs four tons. There are six supporting stones and two covering stones. Some people call it the “Druid’s Altar”. It is said that the women carried the stones in their aprons to make the cromlech. Some people say that a giant who was passing by one day took a bite out of Sugarloaf Hill, and the cromlech is made of the crumbs he dropped.

From the Schools Collection made in the 1930s, and now being digitised at duchas.ie.

Sites within 20km of Knockeen

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