Photo Gallery
Panoramas
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Photo Gallery |
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Panoramas |
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Infrared |
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| G 76798 02368 (GPS 28min) . | Visited June 2002 |
Drumanone stands about 3km west of Boyle
and only 200m to the north of the R294, but you must cross a railway line to
reach it. It is located in pasture land about 300m north of the
Boyle River with excellent views all around, the Curlew mountains being visible
to the north.
This is an excellent example of a Portal Tomb, the chamber structure is fully
exposed due to the usual robbing away of the covering cairn. There are two large
portal stones, each over 2m high, these are set longitudinally and parallel to
the NE-SW long axis of the tomb. The 1.2m space between the portals is closed by
the door slab, nearly as tall as the portals, this stone is an excellent fit
between them. There are two side stones, the one to the south has been
re-erected, and the western slab has been tilted over by the mass of the slipped
capstone, and it is now supported by a steel girder. A small stone sits between
the side slabs at the SW, and this may be a remnant of a broken back slab. The
capstone is huge, measuring roughly 4.5m x 3.8m, it has slipped back quite a
distance from its original position, and has distorted the rear end of the tomb
considerably.
Because of the distortion caused by the slipped capstone the chamber dimensions
are difficult to judge, but the original space was probably polygonal and about
2m in diameter. Excavated in 1954, the chamber contained considerable amounts of
cremated bone, and a small porcellanite axe, or adze, from the Thievebulliagh
axe factory in County Antrim. Other finds outside the chamber included a flint
flake and a carinated chert core-scraper.
The site is well worth a visit, although the chamber was awash with cow muck
during our visit!