haroldstown dolmen

Improbable though it may seem, this interesting megalithic tomb was lived in by a family in the nineteenth century, a purpose to which its large interior was suited and possibly to some extent modified. Gaps between the side-stones were windproofed with turf and mud, and no doubt the resulting 'house' was as snug as some of the tiny cabins occupied around the time of the Great Famine. The presence of a horse in the photograph is a reminder too that these ancient structures not infrequently served as animal shelters in the past. A visitor to the group of chamber tombs at Farranmacbride in Co. Donegal in 1871 records; 'On getting into another cavity, I found two black lambs inside, and in another some pigs, in another calves. The Haroldstown dolmen stands near the bank of the Derreen River at Acaun Bridge, 4 miles north-east of Tullow. The chamber, 13 feet long and nearly 9 feet wide at one point is more spacious than most portal-tombs and comprises about ten upright stones. There are two capstones, the larger of which measures some 12 feet in length.