Dolmens Are a Girls Best Friend

'Calliagh Berra's House' : Passage Tomb

TownlandSlieve Gullion
CountyArmagh
Grid RefJ 025 203
Longitude6° 25' 55.71" W
Latitude54° 7' 17.27" N
Nearest TownNewry (9 Km)
OS Sheet29
UTM zone29U
UTM x667814.0512112
UTM y6000083.6776272
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Visit Notes

Sunday, 25th May 2003

I had intended this to be site 1000 on megalithomania, but alas it was not to be. That doesn't really matter though, because irrespective of when or why you come here, you will not be disappointed.

This has to be one of the finest locations on the planet. 570m above sea level, on top of the former holder of the title "Ireland's Most Sacred Mountain", the views are immense. You can see from the east coast to the west coast and from the north coast down to the Wicklow Mountains - That's nearly half of Ireland .... WOW!!!

The passage tomb is one of Ireland's wonders too. It is one of a kind - it is more Breton than Irish in its execution. The passage and chamber are made from drystone walling. The only three orthostats form a recess opposite the passage. In front of this alcove is a shallow basin stone.

Another peculiarity is that the massive kerb stones are layed flat rather than standing up, although most of these are covered by carin slippage.

The inside of the passage and chamber was particularly damp on my visit as it had been raining for quite a while that day. This gave the tomb an extra-special womb-like quality, making it uncomfortable yet cosey at the same time.

As the name suggests this is the home of the Hag - Callaigh Berra - the third aspect of the Celtic triple goddess. Further associations abound. To the north, at a hight of 500m is Callaigh Berra's Lough, a small lake on the top of the mountain, a very magical seeming place. The passage points in the direction of Loughcrew also known as Slieve na Callaigh.

If places of power do exist then this is a truly great one. I definitely left there feeling very different to when I arrived. I don't know if I left part of me with the Hag, took part of her away with me or we did a fair exchange, but something happened ... and it doesn't seem to have been a bad thing. I wonder if I bumped my Spiritual Bone.

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Random Gazetteer

A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments

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4.9 Km (N) there is a Portal Tomb at Aghmakane.
922 m (NNW) there is a Cairn at Slieve Gullion.
2.5 Km (W) there is a Portal Tomb at Aughadanove.
5.4 Km (NE) there is a Court Tomb at Ballymacdermot.
2.2 Km (ENE) there is a Court Tomb at Clonlum.

A Selection of Other Passage Tombs

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