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Poulnabrone Dolman
Dolmans, properly called Portal Tombs, mark burial places in a very distinctive way, with large capstones elevated at an angle and held up by huge standing stones. They were created between 3000 BC and 2000 BC and are generally held to be tombs, though they may also have had a ritual significance.
The stones we see now would have originally been covered in earthen mounds, with the area below the capstone forming an entrance leading to the tomb proper. Hence the correct name of Portal Tombs.
There are more than 100 dolmans scattered throughout Ireland, in various states of repair.
Quite how the people of the time manipulated the truly massive capstones into place is unknown, but the fact that so much of their work still stands some 4,500 years later is a testament to their evident skill.
Poulnabrone Dolman
Standing alone in a rocky field, with no visitor centre, car park or paved pathway to take away from a vista that has not changed in Millennia, the Poulnabrone Dolman (above) is one of the finest remaining dolmans in Ireland. It is also one of the most visited, so unless you arrive early in the morning there are likely to be quite a few people around.
Poulnabrone means "hole of the sorrows" and in 1986, when the area around the dolman was excavated, the remains of 16 adults and children were found to have been buried there, over a period of perhaps 500 years. Alongside them were many artefacts, including arrowheads and axes, stone beads and broken pottery, some of which are now on display in the National Museum in Dublin. These allowed archaeologists to date the dolman with some confidence to about 2,500 BC.
The region where the dolman stands - the Burren - is a treasure trove of stone age remains, with some 70 tombs and about 500 circular stone structures or forts. Keep your eyes peeled as you drive around, get out of the car occasionally and take a walk around - the echoes of our ancient ancestors are never very far away.
Location: On the R480 in Co Clare, between Ballyvaughan and Kilfenora. View Map
Poulnabrone Dolman
Dolmans, properly called Portal Tombs, mark burial places in a very distinctive way, with large capstones elevated at an angle and held up by huge standing stones. They were created between 3000 BC and 2000 BC and are generally held to be tombs, though they may also have had a ritual significance.
The stones we see now would have originally been covered in earthen mounds, with the area below the capstone forming an entrance leading to the tomb proper. Hence the correct name of Portal Tombs.
There are more than 100 dolmans scattered throughout Ireland, in various states of repair.
Quite how the people of the time manipulated the truly massive capstones into place is unknown, but the fact that so much of their work still stands some 4,500 years later is a testament to their evident skill.
Poulnabrone Dolman
Standing alone in a rocky field, with no visitor centre, car park or paved pathway to take away from a vista that has not changed in Millennia, the Poulnabrone Dolman (above) is one of the finest remaining dolmans in Ireland. It is also one of the most visited, so unless you arrive early in the morning there are likely to be quite a few people around.
Poulnabrone means "hole of the sorrows" and in 1986, when the area around the dolman was excavated, the remains of 16 adults and children were found to have been buried there, over a period of perhaps 500 years. Alongside them were many artefacts, including arrowheads and axes, stone beads and broken pottery, some of which are now on display in the National Museum in Dublin. These allowed archaeologists to date the dolman with some confidence to about 2,500 BC.
The region where the dolman stands - the Burren - is a treasure trove of stone age remains, with some 70 tombs and about 500 circular stone structures or forts. Keep your eyes peeled as you drive around, get out of the car occasionally and take a walk around - the echoes of our ancient ancestors are never very far away.
Location: On the R480 in Co Clare, between Ballyvaughan and Kilfenora. View Map