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Aghamore : Wedge Tomb

CountyLeitrim
Grid RefG 800 443
GPSG 80048 44251 (8m)
Longitude8° 18' 24.63" W
Latitude54° 20' 47.32" N
Nearest TownManorhamilton (9.8 Km)
OS Sheet16
UTM zone29U
UTM x545057.66599229
UTM y6022293.5459776
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Visit Notes

Sunday, 16th May 2004

This great wedge tomb was the main purpose of the climb up here. It is located amongst bumpy, peaty ground on the edge of a limestone pavement with just the roofstones rising above the level of the ground around it. The western end is in good condition, as good as you will find anywhere, with a complete fa?ßade and side stones. The gallery is fairly complete, but a chain secured around one of the roofstones shows that it is lucky to be that way: somebody obviously had a good go at dismantling it quite recently.

The box-like remains of the gallery are about 3m long x 2m wide x 1.5m tall. Extending from this to the fa?ßade stones you can just make out the stumps of the slabs that would have formed the walls of the portico/entrance section.

The outline of a wedge-shaped cairn can be made out around it, but very little of the cairn material remains. This is about 9m long (E-W) and 5m wide at the west, tapering to about 3.5m at the east. The gallery has been blocked by a drystone wall about halfway along and the slabs of the eastern end have been removed and a little enclosure built (it looks that way to me - I doubt it was built this way).

From this spot the peaks of the mountains to the south rise above the near horizon and all the dips in these peaks seem to coincide with the line of the hill. To me this seems likely to be the reason why this place was chosen. To the west are some massive swallow-holes which could also have played a part in this choice.

This is such a peaceful spot. I doubt that you'll ever be disturbed if you decide to make the journey to see this.

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All Sites Visited On 16th May 2004    « Previous Site    Next Site »

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Random Gazetteer

A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments

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5.5 Km (ESE) there is a Court Tomb at Barracashlaun.
9.1 Km (NW) there is a Portal Tomb at Gorteen (Co. Sligo).
6.8 Km (NNW) there is a Court Tomb at Shesknan.
860.2 m (SW) there is a Hut Circle at Aghamore.
8 Km (N) there is a Wedge Tomb at Aghanlish.

A Selection of Other Wedge Tombs

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