Sheemore (central tomb) - Passage Tomb | Sheemore (north tomb) - Passage Tomb |
Sheemore (south tomb) - Passage Tomb |
Driving up towards this magical hill from the southeast I was stunned by its form. It's like a mini Knocknarea! The tombs on the top stand out from most northern angle and seem to be built to be most visible from the northeast. Later in the day I was to see this spectacle many times and each time it impressed me terrifically.
There are three tombs on the summit and as each one is very different I will make a separate page for each.
I climbed up from the north which is quite steep, but very rewarding. This side of the hill is stepped with limestone plateaux and dotted with wind-blasted thorn trees, which I love. When you finnaly make it to the top the site of the cross on the central cairn is semi-comical, but as the majesty of this hilltop vantage point takes hold of you the cross becomes very ignorable. I wonder if this is the only passage tomb with its own electricity supply.
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. |