Haroldstown Dolmen
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The Haroldstown Dolmen is a portal tomb in the townland of Haroldstown ( Irish Baile Arúil ). It is on the road from Tullow to Hacketstown near the banks of the Dereen in County Carlow in Ireland . In the British Isles, portal tombs are megalithic systems in which two equally high, upright stones with a door stone in between form the front of a chamber, which is covered with a sometimes huge capstone. It is an Irish national monument .
Two large overlapping capstones, one 3.7 m long and the other 2.8 m long, were supported by 10 bearing stones, which were partially overturned.
description
Because of its extraordinary size, this megalithic complex could serve as a residence for a family in the 19th century. The interior was redesigned. The facility later served as a shelter for the cattle. A visitor to the megaliths at Farranmacbride , County Donegal noted in 1871:
" On getting into another cavity, I found two black lambs inside, and in another some pigs, in another calves ".
"When I entered another dolmen, I found two black lambs in it, a few pigs in another, and calves in another."
Near the connecting road Carlow - Hacketstown, about 3 km east of Carlow, there is another portal Tomb, the Browneshill Dolmen , the capstone of which is over 100 tons. It is considered to be the heaviest capstone in a European portal grave.
See also
literature
- Kenneth McNally: Standing Stones and other monuments of early Ireland . Appletree, Belfast 1984, ISBN 0-86281-121-X .
- Peter Harbison : Guide to the Naional Monuments in the Republic of Ireland Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1992 ISBN 0-7171-1956-4 p. 34
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pictures of Browneshill Dolmen ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 50 ′ 41.5 " N , 6 ° 39 ′ 48.6" W.