Megalithic tomb - passage tomb, Abbeyquarter, Co. Sligo

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Megalithic Tombs

Megalithic tomb – passage tomb, Abbeyquarter, Co. Sligo

County Sligo is already well known for its extraordinary concentration of prehistoric monuments, with Carrowmore and Knocknarea drawing considerable attention.

Rather less discussed is a passage tomb in the townland of Abbeyquarter, a site that sits within one of the most densely megalithic landscapes in Ireland without quite receiving the same degree of recognition.

Passage tombs are among the earliest monumental structures raised by Neolithic communities in Ireland, typically consisting of a stone-lined corridor leading into a central chamber, the whole construction then covered by a cairn of stone or a mound of earth. The Abbeyquarter example is documented in Seán Ó Nualláin's Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume V, covering County Sligo, published by the Stationery Office in Dublin in 1989. Ó Nualláin's survey remains one of the foundational catalogues for this class of monument across the island, and its inclusion of the Abbeyquarter tomb places the site within a broader regional pattern of tomb-building activity concentrated particularly around the Cuil Irra peninsula and its surroundings. The Sligo groupings are thought to represent some of the oldest surviving architecture in the world, predating the Egyptian pyramids by a considerable margin, which makes even the lesser-known sites in the area worthy of attention on those terms alone.

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