Slievenaglasha Wedge Tomb

This wedge tomb is a National Monument (no. 270) in state care. On a SE-sloping, grass-covered crag in rough pasture, commanding wide views out NE-W and within an extensive multiperiod field system (CL010-064001-). Marked as a rectangle and labelled ‘Dermot & Grania’s Bed’ on both the first (1842) and later, Cassini editions of the OS 6-inch map. Perhaps considerably damaged by fire c. 1880 about which Westropp (1896, 365; 1913, 247, Footnote 4) records, ‘… a long cromlech, much injured by fire [and] partially destroyed …’. Described by de Valera and Ó Nualláin (1961, 47) as a partly damaged wedge tomb (L min. 2.7m; Wth at W 1.6m, narrowing to 1.3m at E) orientated ENE-WSW, and embedded in the semicircular remains of a low mound (c. 9m NW-SE; c. 4.5m NE-SW; max. H c. 0.5m) which was visible around the W end of the tomb. A modern drystone wall running NNW-SSE covered the E end of the tomb. This wall was part of a collapsed hut, collapse from which also appeared to have formed a grass-covered heap of stones just to the N of the tomb. This hut may relate to a reference to this tomb in the OS Letters of 1839, ‘under which many poor families have lived!’ (Comber 1997, 22).

The N and S sides of the tomb each comprised a single, large limestone slab set on its long edge. The very fine N slab (L 4.5m; H 1.37m at W, sloping to 1m at E; T 0.15-0.25m) was cracked 1.65m from its W end, and the top edge was worked on both sides. The S sidestone (L 3.25m; H 0.9m; T 0.1-0.15m) was broken with most of its top missing and its E end covered by the drystone wall collapse from a later hut. The W end of the tomb was closed by two slabs, one (L 1.05m; H 1m; T 0.1-0.15m) at the S set perpendicularly to the sidestones and with a broken top edge, and another (L 0.75m; H 1.2m; T 0.15-0.2m) at the N standing at a more oblique angle. The E end of the tomb was concealed by a later drystone wall. Many loose and broken slabs of diverse sizes (largest fragment L 1.75m; T 0.15m) were observed leaning at angles within the tomb chamber. Some of these were thought to possibly be pieces of the tomb’s capstone. Others appeared to be rubble from the later drystone hut abutting the E end of the tomb. An inspection of the tomb in 1999 found it unaltered in the interim.

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