Cunard : Portal Tomb
Visit Notes
Sunday, 19th May 2002
This is another one of those tales of a portal tomb and nothing on the map. Well, it exists ..... and it's quite sweet - not very big and the portal stones have gone ..... but it's sweet.
As you tramp down the hillside along the stream you just get the feeling of 'Portal Tomb Country' and you just know it's going to be there, waiting for you. And then you see a large stone and realise that this is it. I raced down the hill amazed at finding this initially dubious site.
As mentioned the portal stones have gone and just three chamber wall stones remain, still propping up one end of the diamond shaped capstone, whih is just 2.2m long.
It is wonderfully situated on a little hump around which the peaty brown stream diverts. The addition of a few trees in the area make the site very nice indeed.
The chamber forms a 70cm cube and the total height of the structure is just 1.6m. With the portal stones in place, holding up the pointed end of the capstone it may have reached 2m or so.
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Sunday, 21st July 2002
After playing dodge the scrambler bike (there were around 15 people riding bikes up and down the hill) we made it to this pretty little tomb. After staying for a while and enjoying watching a bird of prey dive bomb prey we headed back up, once again running the gauntlet.
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Tuesday, 23rd May 2006
The walk down to this wonderful site is never dry. The whole of the hillside is so boggy that Andy's feet got soaked, but it is so worth it! The recent rains had engorged the stream that runs down the hill a few metres from the tomb. The small cascade just below the tomb was particularly spectacular and noisy.
Andy had a good look around the base of the raised area that the tomb stands on and noticed that the stone seems to be different from the other rock on the hillside. This outcrop is very red, rusty even, and seems to be rich in iron.
Like this monument
Marked Sites
Directions
Take the R115 south from Rockbrook and after about 4km you will pass a turn off to the right. Keep going past the parking area on the left. As you round a bend you will see a memorial in 100m in front of you to the left. Just past this memorial is a left turn. Turn here and take this road until you reach a stream running down to your left. Park here and walk down the hill along the stream for 550m or so to reach this tomb.
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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