Crosh! Gosh! It's huge! Even in its crumbling state this is impressive. It's hard to imagine what the capstone must have been like, but judging by the rest of the stones it must have been enormous.
The initial impression, when approaching via the farmyard, is a little misleading, though. You see one of the massive portal stones and possibly the largest side stone there is on any portal tomb, but alas the other side is trashed. However, both portal stones are still present and correct.
The two 3m+ tall portal stones frame a deep set doorstone. This in no way small, but it is still dwarfed next to the rest of the structure. This is one that I really would like to have seen when intact.
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. |