Portal Tomb by Kilgraney

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Portal Tomb by Kilgraney

The collapsed Portal Tomb of Kilgraney (also called Cloghabrona or Druid's Altar ) is located in the townland of Kilgraney ( Irish Cill Ghréine ) northeast of Goresbridge 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.

description

The Tomb portal is located a few meters north of a creek hidden in the vegetation, a branch of the River Barrow . The 3.9 meter long, 2.6 meter wide and 1.15 meter thick capstone lies on the stones of the collapsed chamber. Only one of the two portal stones remained standing. The facility is located in the remains of a round hill about 8.0 m in diameter.

Legends circulate about these stones, including the tradition typical of megalithic structures with capstones that it was a huge altar that the druids used as a table for offerings. The name Druid's Altar comes from this idea , but it is also used for other Irish megalithic structures, for example Druid's Altar (Clooncoe) or Druid's Altar (Tyrone) .

The mythological and functional significance of the location of the Portal Tombs of Kilgraney and similar megalithic structures, which are located in the valley near a body of water instead of being visible on a hill, is discussed in the specialist literature. The rather hidden position of the Kilgraney Portal Tomb gives rise to considerations as to the extent to which the system was used as a boundary marker or in another function.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ed Hannon: Kilgraney Portal Tomb . Visions of the Past, August 16, 2018, accessed June 30, 2020.
  2. ↑ Kilgraney Portal Tomb , Megalithic Monuments of Ireland, private website, description in English with images, accessed on June 30, 2020
  3. ^ Philip I. Powell: Of Druid's Altars & Giants Graves: The Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. MMI, Megalithic Monuments of Ireland, 2012, ISBN 978-1469950372 .
  4. ↑ Muiris O'Sullivan: Megalithic tombs and storied landscapes in Neolithic Ireland . jungsteinsite.de, August 2010, ISSN 1868-3088 ( PDF ).
  5. ^ Seán Ó Nualláin: Irish Portal Tombs: Topography, Siting and Distribution. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 113, pp. 75-105, 1983, p. 84.
  6. ^ Phyllis Mercer: Ritual aspects of Irish portal tombs. Dissertation, Department of Archeology, School of Geography and Archeology, National University of Ireland, Galway 2014, p. 295.

Further reading on megaliths in general

  • Gabriel Cooney: Space, Place and People: unfolding the role of Irish megalithic tombs. In: KW Beinhauer (Ed.): Studies on Megalithics , 1999, ISBN 3-930036-36-3 , pp. 331-345.
  • Elizabeth Shee Twohig: Irish Megalithic Tombs . Shire archeology, 63, Shire, Princes Risborough 1990, ISBN 0-7478-0094-4

Web links

  • Kilgraney Portal Tomb , Megalithic Monuments of Ireland, private website, description in English. and image, last accessed June 29, 2020.
  • Kilgraney Portal Tomb , Megalithic Ireland, description and picture, accessed June 29, 2020.

Coordinates: 52 ° 38 ′ 37.6 "  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 50.6"  W.