Lurgankeel : Portal Tomb
Visit Notes
Sunday, 25th January 2004
For some odd reason I thought that this was going to turn out to be a wedge tomb. I don't know where I'd read that, but it's wrong - it was definitely a portal tomb.
All that remains now is a solitary 3m+ tall portal stone and a massive capstone, which lies on the ground behind it. From the scale and shape of the capstone this could well have resembled the portal tomb at Aghnaskeagh (County Louth). Similarly the nearby wedge tomb, also in Lurgankeel (County Louth) townland we find a portal & wedge tomb pairing, as can be seen at Proleek.
The landscape here is very interesting. To the north is Slieve Gullion standing very proud. To the east (probably the direction the tomb faced) is a low hill just half a mile away. Beyond this is Carlingford Mounatin and Black Mountain. A dip in the profile of Balck Mountain seems to rest upon the ridge of the nearby hill. A very carefully chosen site location it would seem.
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A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
2.8 Km (NE) there is a Portal Tomb at Monascrebe.
7.5 Km (E) there is a Court Tomb at Ballymakellett.
5.4 Km (SSW) there is a Rock Art at Cortial.
8.7 Km (N) there is a Passage Tomb at Slieve Gullion known as Calliagh Berra's House (Co. Armagh).
A Selection of Other Portal Tombs
 Ahaglaslin (Co. Cork) |  Glenknock (Co. Tyrone) |  Athenree (Co. Tyrone) |
 Ballynageeragh (Co. Waterford) |  Kiltiernan Domain (Co. Dublin) |  Aghanlish (Co. Leitrim) |
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. |
