Portal Tomb von Garran
DatedEst. 4000–3000 BCE
No licensed photograph yetWe have no photograph we may publish for this site, so the interpretive 3D view leads instead.
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Garran portal tomb is a Neolithic megalithic tomb in the townland of Garran (Irish An Garrán), County Monaghan, Ireland. It is estimated on typological grounds to date from between 4000 and 3000 BCE.
It is almost completely preserved and is marked as "Giants Grave" on Ordnance Survey maps.
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Portal Tomb von Garran
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb lies west of the L189 road from Monaghan to Newbliss, fenced in behind a house. The nearby Carn court tomb is the closest neighbouring monument named in the record.
It has slipped towards the back and rests on one of the eastern supporting stones and on the ground.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
Portal tombs are megalithic structures of the British Isles in which two upright stones of equal height, with a door stone between them, form the front of a chamber covered by a capstone that is sometimes enormous.
At Garran there are two portal stones about 1.5 m high, of which the right-hand one is split. Two side stones on each side and one end stone survive, all in situ. The capstone is about 2.4 m long and 1.0 m thick. It has slipped towards the back and rests on one of the eastern supporting stones and on the ground. The door stone is missing. The chamber measures about 2.0 × 1.0 m and opens to the north-west.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
In the Irish classification of megalithic tombs set out by Seán Ó Nualláin and Rúaidhrí de Valera in 1961, portal dolmens are one of four categories, alongside court cairns, wedge-shaped gallery graves and passage tombs. Most portal tombs in Ireland date from the Neolithic, between 4000 and 3000 BCE, and some were covered by a mound of earth or smaller stones that has since eroded away.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Portal tombs
A portal tomb, or portal dolmen, is the Irish and British version of the dolmen: a single-chamber megalithic tomb with two or more upright stones framing a "portal" at the front and a large capstone. In the Irish classification of megalithic tombs set out by Seán Ó Nualláin and Rúaidhrí de Valera in 1961, portal dolmens are one of four categories, alongside court cairns, wedge-shaped gallery graves and passage tombs.
Most portal tombs date from the Neolithic, between 4000 and 3000 BCE, and some were covered by a mound of earth or smaller stones which has since eroded away, leaving the stone skeleton. Ireland has about 172 dolmens, of which the best known is Poulnabrone in the Burren, with estimates between 3800 and 3200 BCE. Excavation under Poulnabrone found the remains of about 33 people, adults and children, along with stone and bone objects.
In Wales and Cornwall the form is the cromlech or quoit. Pentre Ifan in Pembrokeshire is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic dolmen in Wales. The names of Irish portal tombs often reflect old tradition: Brownshill, near Carlow, has a capstone reputed to be the heaviest in Europe, estimated at 150 tonnes, and Proleek in County Louth is the subject of a legend of a Scottish giant who carried it there.
Dating rests on the few excavated tombs, and most are dated by comparison.
When visiting, look for the capstone and for the portal stones at the front.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Portal dolmen, Wikipedia: Dolmen, Wikipedia: Passage grave, Wikipedia: Poulnabrone dolmen, Wikipedia: Pentre Ifan, Wikipedia: Brownshill Dolmen, Wikipedia: Proleek Dolmen · CC BY-SA 4.0
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 4000–3000 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for portal tombs in Ireland; this site has not been dated itself. Irish portal tombs are dolmens and most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000-3000 BCE).Source for this date
Where it stands
Ireland
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 54°10′40″ N, 7°05′12″ WFor a GPS or map app: 54.17780, -7.08672
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
- DolmenCourt Tomb von Carn4000–3000 BCE
- Court tomb (court cairn)Tiredigan Court Tomb4000–2500 BCE
- Court tomb (court cairn)Cairnbaine court tomb3750–2900 BCE
Calliagh2500–2000 BCE- Stone row (alignment)Drumgole stone row
- Court tomb (court cairn)Court Tomb von Edergole3750–2900 BCE
Court Tomb von Killydrutan3750–2900 BCE
portal tomb of Mayo4000–3000 BCE
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q21036992wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Portal Tomb von Garran" (German), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (German): Portal Tomb von GarranCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q21036992CC0