Ahaglaslin : Portal Tomb
Visit Notes
Sunday, 14th September 2003
County Cork has just two portal tombs and both are in extreme locations one way or another. This one is situated high up on the side of a steep hillside overlooking a meandering stream.
The portal stones have collapsed slightly and the chamber is covered in ivy, which has now taken hold on the tip of the capstone making it resemble the much 'hairier' tomb at Fenagh Beg (County Leitrim).
To the front of the portal stones are several low set stones, which appear to be the remains of a small court.
This is not an easy site to reach, access involves a tricky descent down on to the ledge upon which the tomb is built. This ledge appears to have been made just for the purpose of locating the monument there.
Looking westward it is possible to see the stone circle at Bohonagh (County Cork).
Access to this tomb is via a farm to the west and the farmer is very friendly. After giving me directions, which I totally failed to follow, he came across the fields when he saw me struggling and too me to the tomb.
At the time of my visit there was a lot of bracken and gorse around the tomb making it very difficult to see properly. However, the farmer does burn this off once a year and so I will watch out when I pass to see if I can get a better view.
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_Saturday, 9th July 2005
Some recent photos of this site taken without any vegetation around it inspired me to come back. Sadly I had left it too long: the tomb was once again half-buried in the bracken.
Well, not to be beaten, we spent some time stomping the vegetation down to get a better view.
A small note about the farmer - The first time I visited here he was really kind and showed me where the site was. This time he seemed to be very aggressive, but eventually let us visit the site. He wasn’t in the kind of mood where I wanted to ask him anything, but I suspect he may be a little annoyed at people visiting the site from the road below and not asking him. Please, whenever possible always ask to visit sites.
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_Random Gazetteer
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
8.9 Km (NNW) there is a Stone Circle at Glanbrack.
8 Km (N) there is a Stone Circle at Knocks known as Knocks S.
6.2 Km (W) there is a Stone Circle at Drombeg.
6.4 Km (NW) there is a Stone Circle at Reanascreena.
A Selection of Other Portal Tombs
 Aghmakane (Co. Armagh) |  Savagetown (Co. Waterford) |  Glenroan (Co. Tyrone) |
 Sunnagh More (Co. Leitrim) |  Cloghroe (Co. Donegal) |  Eskaheen (Co. Donegal) |
About Coordinates Displayed
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This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the coordinates I provide. Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate. Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies. The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM coordinates are slightly out. UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator - that is at the core of the GPS system. ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps. |
