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Glasmullagh : Wedge Tomb

CountyTyrone
Grid RefH 387 805
GPSH 38713 80520 (8m)
Longitude7° 23' 59.6" W
Latitude54° 40' 16.45" N
ITM east480366
ITM north584435
Nearest TownOmagh (10.6 Km)
OS Sheet12
UTM zone29U
UTM x449041
UTM y5761192
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Visit Notes

Sunday, 14th November 2004

After finding a standing stone where the OS map said there should be a tomb I didn't expect to actually stumble across a tomb here. Luckily I had decided to head up the hill and try to look at the whole slope from above, which is how I saw this tomb hidden in some reeds.

A single roofstone covers a small flooded chamber constituting most of the remains. There are one or two orthostats in the boggy ground around the 'good' bit.

The views southwards are extensive. Below the stone circle complex would have been laid out on its little shelf. If it wasn't so boggy and soggy here this would be a spectacular place to lie around and enjoy the scenery.

Standing stones, also called menhirs or monoliths, are the most simple of megalithic monuments. They are exactly what they say, a stone that stands with one end set into the ground. Being simple in form does not make them simple to understand, for they have served several purposes over time. Some were placed to mark burials, others were probably erected to mark boundaries or travel routes, the purpose of others is uncertain, but it may well have been ritual.

Standing stones can vary enormously in size from a under 1m tall to over 4m. Some have been purposely shaped (see Stone Of Destiny (County Meath)) and some must have been chosen purely for their shape (see Ballyvatheen (County Kilkenny)). Most standing stones are dated to be from the Bronze Age, but some are clearly older, especially those associated with passage tombs such as at Knowth (County Meath) and Loughcrew - Corstown (County Meath).

Others have been re-used in later times (see Kilnasaggart (County Armagh) and Breastagh (County Mayo)), perhaps to try and capture some of the powers of the old gods or to legitamise a claim to land.

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About Coordinates Displayed

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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