Megalithic structure, Ballintoor, Co. Waterford

Co. Waterford |

Megalithic Tombs

Megalithic structure, Ballintoor, Co. Waterford

On a wet, reclaimed field on the south-eastern slope of Deelish Mountain in County Waterford, there is a stone structure that looks, at first glance, like a megalithic tomb. Two large sidestones, a backstone, and a pair of capstones are arranged in the familiar form of a wedge tomb or portal tomb, the kind of prehistoric monument that dots the Irish landscape and dates back four or five thousand years. Look more closely, though, and the details begin to unsettle that assumption. A small wedge stone props the eastern sidestone to stop it toppling. The rear capstone rests not on the main uprights but on two small packing stones barely eighteen centimetres high. The interior, rather than being a clean rectangular chamber, pinches into an hourglass shape where the sidestones bulge inward. The whole structure sits directly on the ground surface, with no evidence of the kind of earthwork or kerbing that typically accompanies genuine prehistoric monuments.

The structure was identified and reported by Michael Flynn, and a close examination of the stonework points strongly towards a relatively recent origin. The boulders themselves are conglomerate sandstone with quartz pebble inclusions, the same material that fills the field boundaries running all around this part of Deelish Mountain. Those boundaries are composed entirely of stones cleared from the small fields, and a scattering of further clearance boulders lies between the back of the structure and the nearest boundary wall to the south. The most plausible reading is that someone, at some point during the process of reclaiming and clearing this hillside land, deliberately arranged the largest available boulders into something resembling a megalithic tomb. Whether this was done in earnest imitation, as a local curiosity, or for some practical reason that has since been forgotten, the notes do not say. What it amounts to is a folly in stone, assembled from the debris of agricultural work rather than from any prehistoric ritual impulse.

The site opens to the north-east, facing the gently rising hillside, and the ground underfoot is notably wet. A coniferous plantation now blocks what would otherwise be a clear view southward over Dungarvan harbour and the sea beyond, a view that presumably made this a conspicuous and attractive spot for whoever built or arranged the structure. The field is on the south edge of the reclaimed area, with a stone wall running immediately to the south and the plantation beyond it.

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