Scrahallia : Wedge Tomb
Visit Notes
Sunday, 18th July 2004
As you drivethrough this part of Galway Cashel Hill dominates the scenery and it's not surprising to find a tomb built upon it. It is surprising not to find a lot more around it though.
Reaching this tomb is quite a climb, but if anywhere is worth the effort then this is! I parked to the west, near to a little quay and walked up the hill from there. This route takes you over a little spur that obscurs the tomb from you until you are 150m from it. This revealling moment is quite fantastic, because this tomb is a beauty! When you first see it from this direction you are looking straight at its front and you can see how good it is.
A quick jog across a bit of soggy ground takes you to the front of the raised platform on which it stands. This platform appears to be manmade and could be the base of a cairn or simply an area to lift the tomb from the watery ground around it.
The whole monument is very complex and it is worth climbing above it to look down upon it. The gallery is covered by a single capstone, which is in position. In front of this on the south side is a tall flanking stone similar to those found at Island (County Cork). The walls of the gallery are made of small orthostats and both sides utilise chocking stones to level the roof out. The double walling extends backwards to a sharp point 2m behind the backstone of the gallery.
The boggy area in front of the tomb could well have been wet when the tomb was built. I say this because a line of six evenly spaced stones lead across it to the front of the tomb. These are placed a perfect pace apart and I think they might be pre-historic stepping stones. They seem too well placed to be coincidental.
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_How Other People Have Rated This Monument
| Jerry from Tallahassee. FL |  |
| John Joe Gubbins from Annaghvane (connamara) | |
Have you visited This Monument?
If so, give it a rating for others to seeA Selection of Other Wedge Tombs
 Cahermacnaghten (Co. Clare) |  Pookauncorrin (Co. Kerry) |  Cappaghkennedy (Co. Clare) |
 Glenwanish (Co. Clare) |  Tober Grania (Co. Clare) |  Wardhouse (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. |
