Middletown : Portal Tomb
Visit Notes
Sunday, 15th April 2007
I've tried to visit this site before when I've been at Drumhawnagh (County Cavan) just up the road, but have never managed to find it. Today I found out why. The two lads who took me to it told that the last time they were there it was encased in brambles and hidden in the hedgerow. The area to the front of the monument has since been cleared somewhat, although nowhere near as much as it could do with.
This is a great portal tomb and needs exposing fully. The backstone is missing and there is no doorstone, but everything else is there. The portal stones are 1.8m tall and 1m apart. The wallstones of the chamber are about 1.5m long and 1m tall. This, obviously, gives the capstone a severe angle.
I'd read that the capstone had slipped, but this isn't the case. It has, in fact, been broken. The front portion, from just by the portal stones, has gone. You can tell this because both wall stones are notched to hold the capstone, which still sits comfortably in the V-shaped hollows. These are a really nice touch and were put there to stop the steep capstone slipping.
It's little engineering touches like this that never cease to amaze me.
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A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
9.7 Km (SSW) there is a Standing Stone at Clogh (Co. Longford).
9.4 Km (E) there is a Portal Tomb at Aghawee.
9.4 Km (S) there is a Barrow at Creevy Lower (Co. Longford).
8.9 Km (WSW) there is a Portal Tomb at Aghnacliff (Co. Longford).
A Selection of Other Portal Tombs
 Haroldstown (Co. Carlow) |  Knockeen (Co. Waterford) |  Toome (Co. Donegal) |
 The Kempe Stones (Co. Down) |  Ballindud (Co. Waterford) |  Glendruid (Co. Dublin) |
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. |
