Court Tomb by Rockmarshall
The Court Tomb of Rockmarshall on the Cooley Peninsula is located in the townland of Rockmarshall ( Irish Carraig an Mharascalaigh ), east of the R174 (road) near the confluence of the R173, in County Louth in Ireland . Court Tombs are among the megalithic chamber tombs ( English chambered tombs ) of the British Isles . With around 400 specimens, they are found almost exclusively in Ulster in the north of Ireland or in Northern Ireland .
The gallery with four chambers and half of the exedra at the northeastern end is unusually long at around 14.0 meters . The four chambers become narrower from northeast to southwest. The stones used are low and some have fallen over. There is a lot of cairn material scattered around the gallery . However, the edge of the cairn can only be seen on the northwest side of the gallery. A field wall divides the grave and the southeast part of the 3.5 m deep forecourt is missing. The northeast part is made up of six stones.
The entrance to the gallery consisted of double posts, but only one of the two inner posts has been preserved. The first chamber is about 2.9 m long and 2.4 m wide, with one side stone on the northwest and two on the southeast side. A pair of posts forms the transition to the second chamber, which is about 2.7 m long and 2.0 m wide, slightly smaller than the first. A pair of doorposts form the transition to the third chamber, but there is a gap of about three feet before this chamber begins. The gap between the second and third chambers cannot or can only be explained by the fact that it is a double-court tomb, but there are no further indications. The chamber is over 4 feet long and narrower than the first two. Its north-west wall consists of four stones, only one stone has been preserved in the south-east wall. A single preserved post marks the transition to the fourth chamber, which is about 2.0 m long but only about 1.4 m wide and the stone material is very fragmentary.
See also
literature
- JH Brennan: A guide to megalithic Ireland Aquarian Press 1994 ISBN 1-85538-270-9 p. 64
- James Fergusson: Rude Stone Monuments. In all countries their age and uses. Murray, London 1872.
- Kenneth McNally: Standing Stones and other monuments of early Ireland. Appletree, Belfast 1984, ISBN 0-86281-121-X .
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 0 ′ 33.1 ″ N , 6 ° 17 ′ 5.1 ″ W.