Megalithic tomb - wedge tomb, Teernahillane, Co. Cork

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Megalithic Tombs

Megalithic tomb – wedge tomb, Teernahillane, Co. Cork

Sitting on a boggy saddle between Miskish Mountain and Knockoura in West Cork, this small megalithic structure has survived several thousand years without so much as a trace of the earthen mound that once may have covered it.

What remains is essentially a bare skeleton: a wedge tomb, the type of prehistoric burial monument most commonly found in the west and south-west of Ireland, characterised by a tapering stone gallery that is wider and taller at one end than the other. Here, the gallery runs roughly north-east to south-west, open end facing west, and measures just under three metres in length.

The construction is economical but considered. Each long side of the gallery is formed by two overlapping slabs rather than a single upright stone, and the narrower eastern end is sealed by an inset backstone. What makes the arrangement slightly unusual is the presence of several small thin slabs standing on edge across the western end of the gallery, a detail recorded by Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin in their 1982 survey of megalithic tombs across Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. The gallery widens from roughly 0.9 metres at the east to nearly 1.9 metres at the west, which is consistent with the classic wedge form. There are no visible indications of a surrounding cairn or mound, so the stonework sits exposed on the level bog, unenclosed and without obvious context at ground level.

Wedge tombs are generally associated with the later Neolithic and early Bronze Age, roughly 2500 to 2000 BC, and their concentration in the south-west of Ireland is one of the more intriguing patterns in Irish prehistory. This example, modest in scale and sitting quietly between two named peaks, is less a monument demanding attention than one that rewards a careful look once found.

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