Kilclooney More facts for kids
Kilclooney More is a small area of land, called a townland, in the northwest of Ireland. Its name, Cill Chluanadh Mhór in Irish, means "church of the pasture." You can find it in coastal County Donegal, between the towns of Narin and Ardara. It's right on the R261 road, on the Loughrea Peninsula.
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Ancient Stone Tombs of Kilclooney More
Kilclooney More is famous for its amazing ancient stone tombs. These tombs are found in the western part of County Donegal. Long ago, during the Stone Age, this land was very good for farming. People lived here and grew crops. They also made pottery and built these huge stone tombs. Even today, these tombs are seen as truly special.
Portal Tomb Dg. 68: The Smaller Tomb
This smaller portal tomb is west of the R261 road. It sits in a small dip in the ground, north of the Abberachrin River. One of its main stones, called a portal stone, is missing. However, the rest of the tomb is in good shape.
The inside of the tomb is quite small. It measures about 1.45 meters by 1.2 meters. It points towards the south-southeast. Experts call this tomb Dg. 68.
Court Tomb Dg. 69: A Tomb with a Courtyard
The court tomb known as Dg. 69 is north of the smaller portal tomb. It is also west of the R261 road. This tomb is on a flat, open area of land, on a small hill. From here, you can see all around.
The main part of the tomb, called the gallery, is about 6 meters long. It is between 2.0 and 2.5 meters wide. There are three large standing stones, called orthostats, on each side. It's thought that this tomb once had two separate rooms inside.
A very heavy stone, called a lintel, is still on top of the side stones. It looks like it has moved from its original place. An old drawing from the 1700s shows the lintel above the front of the tomb. Another lintel stone has fallen and rests in front of the tomb.
Portal Tomb Dg. 70: The Largest Tomb
East of the R261 road, on rough land, is the biggest portal tomb, Dg. 70. This tomb has two chambers, or rooms, about 9 meters apart. A modern stone wall stands between them.
The North-Eastern Chamber
The larger, north-eastern chamber has a huge roof stone. It is 4.2 meters long. This roof stone rests on two portal stones, which are 1.8 meters tall. It also rests on a very small pad-stone, which sits on a backstone that is 1.3 meters tall.
The South-Western Chamber
The smaller, south-western chamber has portal stones that are 1 meter tall. Its roof stone is 1.9 meters long and has partly moved out of place. A stone between the portal stones, called a sill stone, has a rectangular piece missing. This is also seen in other famous portal tombs like Poulnabrone.
Most of the stones in this tomb are from grey granite. This granite came from rocks very close to the tomb. However, the backstone is made of red Ardara granite. This red stone stands out against the grey. It might have come from a rocky cliff about 200 meters south of the tomb.
The mound of stones around the tomb, called a cairn, is not well preserved. It is long and stretches over 25 meters. The tomb chambers are in the middle of this cairn. The north-eastern chamber is about 5 meters inside its northern end. The smaller chamber faces north-northeast, and the larger chamber faces northeast.
Like almost all portal tombs along the coast of Ireland, this tomb faces away from the sea. The backstone faces the coast. Some experts believe that portal tombs developed from court tombs. This idea comes from tombs like Kilclooney More and Ballyrennan in County Tyrone, which have a long cairn and a smaller chamber.
Pottery and Dating the Tombs
Inside the larger chamber, many pieces of ancient pottery were found. These pieces all came from one pot. They are now kept at the National Museum of Ireland. It is hard to know the exact age of Irish portal tombs. This is because there are no special tests available to date them directly.
However, the pottery pieces are similar to a type called Lyles Hill pottery. This kind of pottery has been found near old fireplaces at other sites. Based on this, experts think that portal tombs like those in Kilclooney More were built a very long time ago. They were likely built between 5000 and 4800 years ago. This means they are from around 3780 to 3550 years BC, which is in the early Stone Age.
