Boulder-burial, Lehid, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Burial Sites

Boulder-burial, Lehid, Co. Kerry

In a rough pasture beside a road to the north-east of Gowlane Lake, a large flat boulder sits propped on four support-stones, one of which has a smaller pad-stone wedged beneath it to keep the whole arrangement stable.

The structure is modest in scale, the boulder measuring roughly 1.2 metres by 1.1 metres and half a metre thick, but the care taken in its construction is quietly legible. This is a boulder-burial, a monument type found almost exclusively in south-west Ireland, in which a substantial capstone is raised just clear of the ground on low supports, likely placed over human remains. Unlike the more familiar portal tombs or wedge tombs, boulder-burials sit very close to the earth, giving them an understated, almost accidental appearance in the landscape.

The Lehid example does not stand alone. A second probable boulder-burial lies just one metre to the east, and a standing stone rises about thirty metres to the north-west, suggesting this corner of Kerry was deliberately marked out at some point in prehistory, though the precise relationship between the monuments is not recorded. A line of upright stones two metres to the east, ranging from 0.35 to 0.85 metres in height, represents the remains of an old field boundary, a reminder that this ground has been worked and divided by human hands across many generations. The layering of monument types in such a small area, burial structure, standing stone, and field boundary, hints at a landscape that accumulated meaning over a long period rather than being shaped by any single moment of activity.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Boulder-burial, Lehid, Co. Kerry. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement