MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS
OF IRELAND.COM
OF IRELAND.COM
| COOLINARRIG UPPER PASSAGE TOMB |
M M I
| PHOTO by Pip POWELL 2008 |
| Situated on the summit of Baltinglass Hill in the SE sector of Rathcoran hill-fort it consists of a multi-period kerbed cairn measuring 27m in diameter, underneath which are five structures. The cairn material has been built up to form a massive protective wall around the monument. A kerb of large stones surrounded the cairn, and an inner kerb was revealed during excavation. Two stones of the inner kerb and one of the outer bear passage tomb art. The main tomb is on the north side of the cairn. A short passage, 3.2m long, within the cairn is roofed with slabs and leads to a chamber 2m in diameter which contains three shallow recesses and a stone basin with pecked ornament. On the south side of the cairn is another tomb comprising a chamber divided into three compartments but no passage and two of its stones bear passage tomb art. On the NW side of the cairn are the remains of a small corbelled structure, partly overlain by the inner kerb. A fifth chamber stands inside the kerb to the E of the main tomb. The finds from the site include the cremations of at least three adults and one child, flint scrapers, Carrowkeel pottery, and bone pins. Finds from beneath the cairn included a stone axe, a flint javelin-head, scrapers, an egg-shaped stone, carbonised wheat grains and hazelnuts. A saddle quern was also found in the cairn. |
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