knockeen

One of the most spectacular megalithic tombs of the distinctive south Leinster group, a stately Neolithic mausoleum, 'remarkable', to quote Borlase, 'for its solidity, and the perfect carrying out of a unity of design'. As a scheduled National Monument it is entitled to better care than it currently receives. 'It stands neglected in a corner of the disused burial ground of Kilburrin, 4 miles south-south-west of Waterford city, its great lichen encrusted stones emerging from a tangle of overgrown hedges. The size of this monument is quite astonishing when viewed at close quarters and it is evident that considerable labour must have gone into its construction, perhaps over a number of years. The paired portal stones reach the imposing height of 9 feet and have a heavy door-stone set between them to close to the porch-like entrance. There are two capstones, a feature peculiar to several portal-tombs in the area; the main one, a massive horizontal slab 12 feet long and 3 feet thick, rests on the portal stones and on the smaller capstone which covers the rectangular chamber.