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Folklore

The Stone Of The Tree
Standing Stone / Menhir
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ryaner Apr 19, 2025

Clochabhile, Lough Gur, County Limerick

Clochabhile or the Stone of the Sacred Tree unites in itself the Celtic concepts of sacred trees and central stones. The pillar stands a short distance from the Grange Stone Circle at Lough Gur, an area traditionally linked to the goddess Áine and to Fer Í, Eogabal and Eoghan, the mythical ancestors of the mighty Eóganacht sept. The current use of the term eo, which is Irish for ‘a yew’, illustrates the high reverence of the clan for that species of tree and we can easily imagine that Clochabhile was formerly joined by a yew considered sacred to the Eóganachta. The tree and its history are lost, but local lore knows of a magic tree on the bottom of Lough Gur, which would only surface once in seven years.

From Stones of Adoration, by Christine Zucchelli. The Collins Press 2007

Miscellaneous

Fenagh Beg 3
Passage Grave
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ryaner Apr 5, 2025

© Tailte Éireann | National Monuments Services

LE025-093001- : Megalithic tomb – passage tomb : FENAGH BEG

Situated on a rise in an area of rock outcrop and pasture on the W side of a N-S ravine (Wth c. 100m) that is sometimes the SE end of a turlough extending from Lough Reane, which is c. 800m to the NW. This is a rectangular grass-covered cairn (dims of base 15.7m N-S; 11.9m E-W; dims of top 8.2m N-S; 5.4m E-W; H 0.45m at E to 1.7m at S) with kerbstones on the perimeter at N and a chamber (dims 0.8m x 1.1m) at the centre. Cremated bone, six bone pendants, the head of a bone pin, and one quartz and two chalk balls were recovered from the cairn in 1928 (Gogan 1930, 90). The passage tomb (LE025-093002-) lies c. 25m to the SE, the cairn (LE025-093003-) is c. 50m to the SW, and the portal tomb (LE025-092----) is c. 120m to the N. (de Valera and Ó Nualláin 1972, 142; Herity 1974, 277-8, Le 3)

The above description is derived from ‘The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim’ compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

References: de Valera, R. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1972 Survey of the megalithic tombs of Ireland, vol. 3, Counties Galway, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, Laoighis, Offaly, Kildare, Cavan. Dublin. Stationery Office.

Gogan, L.S. 1930 Irish stone pendants. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Series 2, 35, 90-95.

Herity, M. 1974 Irish Passage Graves. Dublin. Irish University Press.

Image of Cleighran More (Court Tomb) by ryaner

Cleighran More

Court Tomb

The front two chambers – the stone in the foreground is the remaining segmenting jambstone that divides the gallery between the second and third chambers.

Image credit: ryaner
ryaner
ryaner Apr 5, 2025
Image of Cleighran More (Court Tomb) by ryaner

Cleighran More

Court Tomb

The stone towards the bottom left is the backstone of the gallery – the small court to the right has been colonised by the holly tree and the rushes.

Image credit: ryaner
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ryaner Apr 5, 2025

Link

Drumanagh
Promontory Fort
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ryaner Feb 8, 2025
Digging Drumanagh

Dig into the Story in Amplify Archaeology Podcast Episode 44 with Christine Baker

Underneath the quiet fields on the headland of Drumanagh in North County Dublin, lies a truly exciting story. This headland is home to one of the most important promontory forts in Ireland, where an innovative community archaeology programme is uncovering connections between Iron Age Ireland and the Roman World. Lead archaeologist Christine Baker tells us all about it in this episode of Amplify Archaeology Podcast.

Ravensdale Park

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ryaner Sep 21, 2024

Travelling around megalithic Ireland a couple or three questions of the imagined tomb-wreckers have frequently arisen: If you’re going to destroy one of these ancient sites, why not obliterate and eradicate it totally? Why leave the scant remnants, the vague outline, of what once was? Is it because mid-destruction you got visited by some phantom in your bed that made you desist? In the end, it’s possible that you got from here what you came for and sated you said fuckit, leave what’s left and who cares? It’s always puzzling – the disrespect shown is sometimes total, and those sites are lost forever, but it’s at places like here in Ravensdale where enough remains to intrigue and tantalise.

I’ll quote in full the description from the Louth Inventory (copyright Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991): “This court-tomb has suffered considerable damage by blasting, and drill holes for dynamite are visible in a number of shattered stones. It consists of a roughly trapezoidal cairn orientated NNE-SSW, incorporating at its N end the inner end of a broad court and the scant remains of a gallery. The N limit of the court is defined by a facade stone at the W, indicating overall court dimensions of about 5.5m deep by 7m wide. Eight stones mark the inner end of the court, four at the W and three at the E. Two of these form the entrance jambs to the gallery which had at least two chambers. The N chamber 3m long and about 1.5m wide, is delimited by two side stones at the W and one at the E. This is separated from the rest of the gallery by a pair of jambs. Beyond these the continuation of the gallery is represented by a single orthostat at the E side and there is no back stone. A field fence curves around the N and W sides of the monument.”

Blasting? Dynamite? So post 1866 then, and more likely well into the 20th century. We’ve heard of this before, in Carrowkeel, but there’s doubts about that. There it was said to be part of the excavation, far-fetched maybe; here it seems that it was simple destruction and the re-use of the stones and antiquarian niceties be-damned. And yet, as mentioned above, they left us what’s here, unprotected as it is. Bizarre.

The small charms of the court with its almost symmetrical arms; the entrance jambs; behind those their chamber segmenting twins, all speak of a classic multi-chambered gallery, unmistakably an ancient burial place. Almost total wreckage of court tombs is quite common in North Louth and the Cooley peninsula it seems. Contrast that with the near complete tombs Ballymacdermot, Clontygora and Annaghmare in neighbouring county Armagh. I’ve been around these parts a lot in the last few years but had always been put off by that Inventory note but I have to say I’m glad to have finally bit the bullet. It’s not that bad of a site compared to others around, just that you wish they hadn’t trashed the place so badly.

Image of Ravensdale Park (Court Tomb) by ryaner

Ravensdale Park

Court Tomb

Gallery entrance jambs flanked by matching court stones. The gallery itself is ruined with the separating jambstones between the first and second chambers prominent.

Image credit: ryaner
ryaner
ryaner Sep 20, 2024

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