Megalithic tomb, Leenaun, Co. Galway

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Megalithic Tombs

Megalithic tomb, Leenaun, Co. Galway

About 1.5 kilometres south of Killary Harbour, overlooking its inner reaches from the head of a valley, a small megalithic structure sits in the Connemara landscape with a classification problem that has never been fully resolved.

Archaeologists have been unable to place it with certainty into any of the standard categories of Irish prehistoric tomb, though it appears to belong to the wedge-tomb tradition. Wedge tombs, the most numerous type of megalithic monument in Ireland, are named for the way their galleries typically taper and lower from a wider, taller entrance toward a closed rear end. This one, aligned roughly northeast to southwest, fits that general picture only partially, which is precisely what makes it interesting.

The gallery itself is modest in scale, running about 2.4 metres in length and 1.25 metres wide at its broader, open eastern end. The western end is closed by a large stone positioned just outside the line of the side-walls, a slightly unusual arrangement. A single stone exposed to the southeast of the gallery may be the remnant of an outer wall or kerb, and a large slab lying within the chamber area is thought to be a displaced roofstone, perhaps toppled at some point in the past several thousand years. Researchers Gibbons and Higgins noted the monument in 1988, and that description has formed the basis of the site's archaeological record since. The combination of features points toward a wedge tomb, but not decisively enough for any firm verdict.

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