Megalithic tomb - wedge tomb, Leamaneh, Co. Clare

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Megalithic Tombs

Megalithic tomb – wedge tomb, Leamaneh, Co. Clare

What survives here at Leamaneh is barely recognisable as a tomb at all, which is precisely what makes it worth attention.

On a south-facing slope of rough grassland and exposed limestone pavement in County Clare, the remains of a wedge tomb sit quietly in a state of near-dissolution. Wedge tombs are among the most numerous megalithic monument types in Ireland, built roughly four to five thousand years ago and named for their characteristic shape: wider and taller at the entrance end, tapering as they extend inward. This one follows that form, but only just.

The cairn, the mound of stones that originally enclosed the burial chamber, is still traceable in outline. It runs narrower at the western end, about four metres across, and opens to a width of 7.6 metres at the east, with kerb stones still visible along the northern and southern edges. The chamber itself is oriented east to west and measures approximately 1.5 metres in that direction by 1.3 metres across. Identifying it with any confidence is difficult; two stones to the north may once have been sidestones, and stones along the south could have served the same function, though the cairn material is now sparse and much of the structure has collapsed or dispersed. There are hints of internal walling along the northern side. Sod and stone walls, likely from later agricultural use of the land, have been built up against the cairn on both sides, extending away to the northeast and south, which complicates any reading of the original monument. About 63 metres to the north-north-west lies a further, as yet unclassified, cairn, suggesting this small patch of Burren landscape once carried more prehistoric significance than its current appearance implies.

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