Labbacallee wedge tomb

Labbacallee Wedge Tomb is a large prehistoric burial monument in County Cork, Ireland. It lies 8 km (5.0 mi) north-west of Fermoy and 2 km (1.2 mi) south-east of Glanworth. Its Irish name, Leaba Chaillí, means 'hag's bed'. It is the largest wedge tomb in Ireland, it dates from roughly 2300 BC, and it is a National Monument in State Care, no. 318.

The tomb has three massive capstones, the largest weighing 10 tonnes, and three large buttress stones at the back. The burial area is a long chamber divided by a large vertical slab into two areas of unequal length. The eastern or inner end, once covered by its capstone, formed a sealed and self-contained burial unit. The main chamber to the west, with two large capstones, was also sealed, by a large 'entrance' stone. The gallery measures about 7.75 meters long, from inside the stone closing its western end to the inner face of the back stone of the eastern chamber.

The tomb appears to have been closed up and abandoned soon after the burials were placed in it. At a later period the chamber was entered through the side wall, near the entrance stone at the west end, where a large corbel was displaced and side stones were moved. The main chamber was then used as a shelter, which disturbed the earlier burials. Animal bones, charcoal and sherds of a cooking pot are the main evidence for this later use.

Labbacallee was one of the first sites excavated under the new National Monuments Act (1930), by Harold Leask and Liam Price in 1934. They found a number of burials, fragments of a late Stone Age decorated pot, and fragments of bone and stone. The west chamber held parts of an adult male and a child, along with a skull believed to belong to the female skeleton in the east chamber. The smallest chamber was filled to the top with rubble, including earth, stones, ash and the bones of animals and humans. Beneath it lay the skeleton of a woman, with a bone pin that might have fastened a garment or shroud. One leg bone was deformed. The tomb was also the first megalithic tomb in Ireland to be described by an antiquarian writer, in John Aubrey's manuscript of 1693.

Folklore says a hag lived here, and she has been linked with the 'Cailleach', a hag goddess of Celtic tradition. In one tale the hag's husband, Mogh Ruith, fell in love with her sister, and in jealousy she chased the druid towards the River Funshion and hurled a boulder that pinned him under the water. She is believed to be buried in the tomb that was once her dwelling. A later tale tells of four local men who came at night to dig for treasure and were terrified by the hag's daughter Aibell, who appeared as a cat with fire bursting from her tail. One of the men fell into the nearby river and drowned.

Wedge tombs are a type of Irish chamber tomb. They take their name from the way the burial chamber narrows at one end, usually decreasing in height and width from west to east, giving a wedge shape in profile.

Labbacallee is the largest wedge tomb in Ireland. The tomb has three massive capstones, with the largest weighing 10 tonnes, and three large buttress stones at the back. The burial area consists of a long chamber, divided by a large vertical slab into two areas of unequal length. The eastern or inner end, when covered by the capstone, formed a sealed and self contained burial unit. The main chamber area, to the west, with two large capstones, was also sealed by a large ‘entrance’ stone. Access to both chambers was only possible by the removal of the end capstone. The gallery measures about 7.75 meters long from inside the stone closing its western end to the inner face of the back stone of the Eastern chamber. The tomb appears to have been closed up and abandoned shortly after the burials were deposited in it. At a later period, the chamber was entered through the side wall, close to the entrance stone at the west end. A large corbel was displaced and side stones were moved to allow access. The main chamber was used as a shelter, resulting in the disturbance of the previous interments. The main evidence for this activity consists of animal bones, charcoal and sherds of cooking pot.