dolmens ireland

A portal dolmen consisting of four standing stones supporting two capstones. It has been unfortunately reconstructed with the aid of cement....

A portal dolmen with a chamber of six upright stones (the two in front forming a porch), and all covered by one large capstone....

A splendid 'tripod-dolmen', 12 feet in height, standing at the edge of a field near a ruined gallery-tomb. It is reached by a signposted path from the grounds of Ballymascanlon Hotel. It has long been called 'The Giant's Load' since, from a certain viewpoint, it resembles a huge figure bowed under the weight of a heavy burden - in this case a rounded granite capstone weighing in excess of 30 tons. This well known landmark has often been illustrated. As early as 1742 an engraving of it appear...

A very fine portal dolmen with a rectangular chamber roofed by two capstones - one partly supporting the other. The two front side stones project so as to form a porch....

A very fine example of a Portal Dolmen in the grounds of the Ballymascanlon Hotel, and with a capstone of about 40 tons supported by three legs. Legend says that a wish will be granted to those who can throw a pebble on to the top of the capstone so that it stays there. In the same field is a wedge-tomb....

This dramatic granite dolmen consists of three comparatively thin and widely spaced uprights. They carry a large and seemingly almost weightless capstone which - appropriately enough for a Stone Age burial place - looks rather like a coffin on stilts. It is one of Ireland's most frequently illustrated dolmens....

Located in Galway Bay in the West of Ireland lie the Aran Islands. Islands so rich in culture, history and heritage they have to be seen to be believed.
The islands unique landscape is composed of limestone rock, big large boulders, considerable stretches of cliffs and very clean beaches. There are three islands in total: Inis Mór (big island), Inis Meáin (middle island) and Inis Oírr (eastern island). Gaelic is the native language spoken here.
It is the islands isolation tha...

Its largest stone is the enormous capstone which has fallen sideways, revealing the megalithic chamber it once covered, in which a cremation urn and a flint arrowhead were found in 1834. Stones standing independently at the eastern side of the monument suggest that it may once have had a forecourt facade like a court-tomb....

This dolmen has two portal stones supporting a massive granite capstone which is estimated to weigh about 35 tons. The tomb, built around 3000-2500 B.C., stands near the northern end of a long rectangular stone cairn. Excavations long ago apparently uncovered bone, Neolithic pottery and flint....

The Ballylumford Dolmen is better known to locals as the Druid's Altar and is a dolmen typical of many found in Ulster and throughout Ireland. Larne used to be called "the port of the Standing Stones" by the Romans, no doubt because of the presence of dolmens like this one and the numberous standing stones and boundary marker stones which can still be seen across the borough. The dolmen, under which historical artifacts have been recovered by archaeologists, would appear to have stood over a b...