 Viewed from the north-east | |
  Shown within Ireland | |
| Location | Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°49′24.7″N10°18′48.9″W / 51.823528°N 10.313583°W Coordinates: 51°49′24.7″N10°18′48.9″W / 51.823528°N 10.313583°W |
| OS grid reference | V 405 659 |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic Age Bronze Age |
Coom Wedge Tomb is a prehistoric site, a wedge tomb on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. It is near the Skellig Ring, a route in the west of the peninsula.
There are about 400 wedge tombs in Ireland. They are a type of gallery grave, and date from the transition between the Neolithic Age and the Bronze Age. [1]
It is aligned west-east, about 5 metres (16 ft) long and 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) wide; the entrance is at the west end. The chamber is about 3 metres (9.8 ft) long, covered by a single slab. There is an open antechamber in front of this, with three large stones on each side, the tallest about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) high. [2] [3] [4]
In The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, a story in Irish mythology, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne and Gráinne were pursued by Fionn mac Cumhaill. They hid in caves to evade capture or, where there were no caves, Diarmuid made shelters. Coom Wedge Tomb, being such a shelter, is known as "Diarmuid and Gráinne's Bed", like other wedge tombs in Ireland. [5]
Gower or the Gower Peninsula in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
County Sligo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 65,535 at the 2016 census. It is noted for Benbulben Mountain, one of Ireland's most distinctive natural landmarks.
Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, located on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. It is aligned on the winter solstice sunrise. Newgrange is the main monument in the Brú na Bóinne complex, a World Heritage Site that also includes the passage tombs of Knowth and Dowth, as well as other henges, burial mounds and standing stones.
A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of gallery grave, and they may be covered with an earthen mound or rock mound.
Knowth is a Neolithic passage grave and an ancient monument of the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne located 8.4 km west of Drogheda in Ireland's valley of the River Boyne. It is the largest passage grave of the Brú na Bóinne complex. It consists of a large mound and 17 smaller satellite tombs. The mound is about 12 metres (40 ft) high and 67 metres (220 ft) in diameter, covering roughly a hectare. It contains two passages placed along an east-west line and is encircled by 127 kerbstones, of which three are missing, and four badly damaged.
Knocknarea is a large prominent hill west of Sligo town in County Sligo, Ireland, with a height of 327 metres (1,073 ft). Knocknarea is visually striking as it has steep limestone cliffs and stands on the Cúil Irra peninsula overlooking the Atlantic coast. At the summit is one of Ireland's largest cairns, known as Queen Maeve's Cairn, which is believed to contain a Neolithic passage tomb. In recent years there has been concern that the ancient cairn, a protected National Monument, is being damaged by climbers. There are also remains of several smaller tombs on the summit. Knocknarea overlooks the Carrowmore tombs and is thought to have been part of an ancient ritual landscape.
Slievenamon or Slievenaman is a mountain with a height of 721 metres (2,365 ft) in County Tipperary, Ireland. It rises from a plain that includes the towns of Fethard, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. The mountain is steeped in folklore and is associated with Fionn mac Cumhaill. On its summit are the remains of ancient burial cairns, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. Much of its lower slopes are wooded, and formerly most of the mountain was covered in woodland. A low hill attached to Slievenamon, Carrigmaclear, was the site of a battle during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites near the south coast of Brittany in northwestern France, consisting of stone alignments (rows), dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local granite and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany and form the largest such collection in the world. Most of the stones are within the Breton municipality of Carnac, but some to the east are within neighboring La Trinité-sur-Mer. The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period, probably around 3300 BCE, but some may date to as early as 4500 BCE.
The Dolmen of Menga is a megalithic burial mound called a tumulus, a long barrow form of dolmen, dating from the 3750-3650 BCE approx. It is near Antequera, Málaga, Spain.
The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne is an Irish prose narrative surviving in many variants. A tale from the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology, it concerns a love triangle between the great warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill, the beautiful princess Gráinne, and her paramour Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Surviving texts are all in Modern Irish and the earliest dates to the 16th century, but some elements of the material date as far back as the 10th century.
Two Rock is a mountain in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is 536 metres high and is the 382nd highest mountain in Ireland. It is the highest point of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The mountain takes its name from the two granite tors that lie to the south-east of the summit. From the summit, which is called Fairy Castle, there are views of much of the Dublin area from Tallaght to Howth to the north while Bray Head, Killiney Hill, the Great Sugar Loaf and the Wicklow Mountains are visible to the south. The summit area is mostly shallow bog while ferns and gorse cover the lower slopes. The mountain is also an important habitat for red grouse.
Slieve na Calliagh are a range of hills and ancient burial site near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland. The summit is 276 metres (906 ft), the highest point in the county. On the hilltops are about twenty passage tombs, some decorated with rare megalithic art, which were built in the 4th millennium BC. Also called the Loughcrew tombs, it is one of the main passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland, along with Brú na Bóinne, Carrowkeel and Carrowmore.
Parc Cwm long cairn, also known as Parc le Breos burial chamber, is a partly restored Neolithic chambered tomb, identified in 1937 as a Severn-Cotswold type of chambered long barrow. The cromlech, a megalithic burial chamber, was built around 5850 years before present (BP), during the early Neolithic. It is about seven 1⁄2 miles (12 km) west south–west of Swansea, Wales, in what is now known as Coed y Parc Cwm at Parc le Breos, on the Gower Peninsula.
The Gaulstown Portal Tomb or Gaulstown Dolmen is a megalithic portal tomb situated in Gaulstown, Butlerstown in County Waterford in the Republic of Ireland. It lies about 7 km south west of Waterford City.
Cabragh Wedge Tomb, also called Cabragh I or the Giant's Grave, is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in County Sligo, Ireland.
Matthewstown Passage Tomb is a passage tomb situated in County Waterford, Ireland.
Altar Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located outside the village of Schull, in County Cork, Ireland.
Carrowcrom Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland.
Carrownlisheen Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located on Inishmaan, Ireland.
Lisnadarragh Wedge Tomb is a prehistoric site, a wedge tomb about 16 kilometres (10 mi) west of Carrickmacross, in County Monaghan near the border with County Cavan, in Ireland.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coom Tomb . |