Ballykeel : Portal Tomb
Visit Notes
Sunday, 3rd March 2002
This is a beautiful example of a tripod dolmen. Much of the cairn is still marked out and stretches for some 25m behind the tomb.
The capstone nestles onto the three 2m uprights, again like Legananny just resting with minimal contact. The door stone is still in place and is just under 1m tall.
The views are broken by hedgerows and a few houses but the context in which this wonder sits is still quite fantastic.
The capstone measures about 3m in length and the whole structure is very like Legannany dolmen.
Saturday, 19th July 2003
Last time I was here I was really only looking at the monument itself, but I had noticed a few things on the pictures afterwards that I wanted to check out. The beauty of Slieve Gullion to the east is inspiring, but it is Slievebrack and the tiny Mullaghbane Mountian to the south that this tomb bows to. Unfortunately, someone allowed someone else to build a bungalow smack-bang in front of the tomb obscuring this view!
Sunday, 7th May 2006
Well, we'd just been to Legananny (County Down) so it seemed only natural to see the other great 'tripod dolmen'. The site is looking very well cared for and there is a new sign here too. Someone in the north has been very busy!
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Sunday, 18th October 2009
As my daughter wanted to take some pictures to get experience of photographing things that are not people, I thought that this sculptural beauty would be a good place to start. Sadly, the weather was terrible (as it was all day), so neither of us got any really good photos.
I wish they'd buy a bit more of the field, or even all of it so that the tiny enclosure around this site can be removed.
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Like this monument
Marked Sites
Directions
From Newry follow the A25 west and then the B30 south. The B30 and the B134 merge for a while, but the B30 branches of west again, follow this until you reach Ballykeel where you will find signposts to the dolmen. Basically turn left in Ballykeel and then first left again.
Random Gazetteer
A Selection of Other Portal Tombs
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. |
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