Great website, so much information. Thank you.

We were promised a break in the weather and it was a sunny dry day for a change, my plan was to go back to Templecronan church in the Burren, and to look for the well, the church is in a lovely location, there are now some signposts and markers to help you find it, which is a pity, but I won’t rave about it anymore. The place looks well, the 2 tomb shrines have been cleared of overgrown flora. I never went to the well, and it is a nice surprice, it is in a little alcove close to the church, it is surrounded by a cliff and stone wall, and next to it there is a stone elevated patch with 2 small standing stones , it is clearly marked off, and whatever the function was, it looks very sweet. I walked back to the gate and walked down the farm track as my main plan for the day was to find the Rannagh East wedgetombs, all I could see was hazel and I had not much confidence that i would actually find the tombs, little did i know at that stage what the day had in store for me. The farmtrack is a straight line down into the hazel, after 5 minutes the track was completely flooded, but i was determined and waded knee deep through it, after that it could not get worse, so anybody who goes this way, a pair of waders would be useful, the track stops all of a sudden ,and to carry on you have to get over electrical fences, quite a few, and they do work, there is a field in front of you, and you turn right, you see a white tree near a wall, you climb over that and after 100 yards or so you find the first tomb, i was really surprised about it, it looks as it hasn’t been touched at all,, it is in such good shape, and so small, it is at least still halfway in its cairn, and it is clearly wedge shaped and very narrow, you could easily overlook it, i only noticed it when i was 3 yards away from it, there are trees growing out of it, but it is still very outlined if you are standing at the back, all the slabs are there, it reminded me a bit at the one at Berneens, only a good bit smaller, The hazel became fairly dense and i decided to leave the second tomb for another time, as i hadn’t a clue where to go, i walked back and i met the local farmer who was attending to his cows, He was very helpful and he said he would bring me to the second tomb, that was such a treat, i would have never found it on my own i’d say, the walk was about 15 minutes, and no track or path to help you, i was very grateful to him, the second tomb is so different, it is extremely big, only 3 slabs remain, 2 side slabs and one connecting these 2, one of the sideslabs is about 4 yards long, but what amazed me was the width of the tomb, nearly 3 yards or so, a lot of trees growing out of it, it must have been a sight in these days. The 2 tombs are not that far away from each other , in a straight line it would be about 500 meters or so i’d say.Westropp writes in his book that if you stand by one tomb, you can see the other, that has totally changed, you need to be with your nose right on it to see even one tomb, the hazel is very overpowering in this landscape. The farmer gave me some other tips about childrens burial grounds in the area , all and all a very good day.

With regard to Coolemore Wedge tomb north of Lisdoonvarna. I visited it back in June 93. Between the old house on the left and the road junction on the right (heading north) follow the field track (on the left) through a number of gates in a south west direction. The tomb, which has a huge standing side slab, is located on a grassed area which had at the time had evidence of potatoe drills beside it.

When you are in the area Derrynavahagh tomb is well worth the effort to visit. It is in great condition. Reminds me of Creevagh Tomb in east burren near Cathair Comain. The other two tombs on the hill (at Faunaroska)are collapsed ruined large slabed tombs near a hill track. There are alot of other possible tombs / cairns / barrows (?) in this area.

This week was set out to find Cooleamore wedgetomb, armed with the Burren map from Tim Robinson,I spent most of yesterday in the Cullaun townland near Lisdoonvarna, i had read Westropp’s piece about it and he had a drawing of the tomb, nevertheless i could not find it, disappointing , but that’s how it goes sometimes, the valley is lovely though to spent the day in, there is a lot of forest around the place and the track you walk is very manageable, today my plan was to walk in that forest, but when i passed the boreen for Cooleamore, i had a flat, I rang the roadside assistance, and they would be out in 2 hours, so what do you do? You go looking again, I went in again and same thing, no tomb where it was supposed to be, i went in a bit further and ended up knee deep with my left leg in a gryke, the underground is very swampy and mucky , I turned back and then something caught my eye in the opposite field, a white piece of stone was sticking out in the distance, i decided to check it out, and it turned out to be the tomb,a beauty, in the 100 years or so that Westropp sketched it not much has changed, the side slab is huge, with a little piece cut out of it at the top, the back slap seems to double up, and then you see some slabs standing up inside the tomb, the top is gone and the other sides as well, why it took me so long to find it that it is wrongly positioned on the Burren Map,the little black triangle that indicates where the tomb is should on the other side of the track. So I was very pleased with my flat after all,. There is a lot of cattle in the fields, and who ever is farming there should be complimented on the fact that the tomb is in such good condition.
Another heartwarming fact is that the bullaun stone at Gleninsheen wedgetomb is back, or at least what i think is a bullaun stone.
Its magic.

When you are back in the burren you should try and visit Teergoneen Court Tomb. It is a special monument in a really magical (and musical place).

Great website.

Currently visiting the east clare megaliths. Tyredagh court tomb is worth visiting but a bit difficult to access. While Tyredagh Wedgetomb is often guarded by a bull.

After visiting a number of archaeological sites, I came across your website and found it to be extremely informative with lots of terrific pictures. It will form a reference guide for many future outings. Excellent work thanks to all involved.

Great site. Love the pictures of Skirk. I have tried twice to see the standing stone there and I've failed twice. I think I may have been looking in the motte and bailey by accident! Is it in the field connecting to the old church?

Awesome pictures I visited here in 1995 and never realized that this was where my husbands family of Carton's and Carrol's came from. what an awesome find thank you. Margaret

Thank you for the site, lots of information compiled in one place, excellent!

Thanks, that taught him a lesson i'd say, i wish they cleared the tomb of all the ivy and brambles, that gives a better idea.