Achill, County Mayo
Achill is the largest Irish island, and one of the few to preserve much by way of a megalithic heritage. Its antiquities came under general notice in 1838 when the first Ordnance Survey of the area was carried out. Around the same time Caesar Otway mentions a number of these monuments in A Tour in Connaught, and later that century Col. Wood-Martin listed no fewer than eleven sites in the island as megalithic. The most authoritative work on the subject is the 1950 survey undertaken by Ruaidhri de Valéra and Sean Ó Nualláin, who identified four sites, while other previously supposed ones were either not megalithic in origin or could not be traced. It is likely however that some had been demolished for building stone in the interim.
The surviving monuments, three court tombs and a portal dolmen, are all in ruin and not that easy to find, being overgrown and partly buried in bog; so a visit is recommended only to those with time to explore at leisure – and enjoy the natural beauty of the island as a bonus.
Collapsed portal dolmen, townland of Dugort West
Churchtown, County Tyrone
A modern field-wall intrudes on this despoiled but not unimpressive megalith, still clearly recognisable as a single-chamber portal tomb. It lies 1/2 mile north-north-east of Castlederg, nearly 150 yards to the east of Lurganboy road. Like many such monuments it is known as the 'Druid's Altar'.
A large displaced capstone is slumped against the east side of the chamber, apparently having been 'wantonly overturned by some barbarian' sometime prior to 1872.One of the portal stones which supported it is missing, evidently removed for building stone. A secondary capstone rests in situ at the back of the chamber, so this was probably a dolmen of the double-capstone variety similar to the Kempe Stones in Co. Down.
About 1/4 mile north-east of this megalith is 'Todd's Den', a Bronze Age wedge tomb with a gallery measuring 22 feet in length by 4 feet wide, whose roofstones are fallen and some of the sidestones displaced.
Click here to buy the Appletree Press book from Amazon.co.uk. For more information click on: Ireland's Ancient Stones - A Megalithic Heritage by Kenneth McNally, published by Appletree Press.
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