Dolmen of the Four Maols

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Dolmen of the Four Maols
Native name
Irish: Dolmain na gCeithre Maol
Clogbogle
Ballina Portal Tomb
Table of the Giants
County Mayo - Dolmen of the Four Maols - 20150308141035.jpg
Type cist
LocationPrimrose Hill, Ballina,
County Mayo, Ireland
Coordinates 54°06′25″N9°09′57″W / 54.107036°N 9.165794°W / 54.107036; -9.165794 Coordinates: 54°06′25″N9°09′57″W / 54.107036°N 9.165794°W / 54.107036; -9.165794
Elevation19 m (62 ft)
Height1.28 m (4 ft 2 in)
Builtc. 2000 BC
Owner Office of Public Works
Official name: Ballina Portal Tomb
Reference no.145
Ireland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Dolmen of the Four Maols in Ireland

The Dolmen of the Four Maols is a cist and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland. [1] [2] [3]

Cist dolmen

A cist is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East. A cist may have been associated with other monuments, perhaps under a cairn or long barrow. Several cists are sometimes found close together within the same cairn or barrow. Often ornaments have been found within an excavated cist, indicating the wealth or prominence of the interred individual.

County Mayo County in the Republic of Ireland

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 130,507 at the 2016 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.

Republic of Ireland Country in Europe on the island of Ireland

Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern side of the island. Around a third of the country's population of 4.9 million people resides in the greater Dublin area. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.

Contents

Location

The Dolmen of the Four Maols is located on Primrose Hill overlooking the River Moy, southwest of Ballina, outside the Road Safety Authority office. [4]

River Moy river in Ireland

The River Moy is a river in the northwest of Ireland.

Ballina, County Mayo Town in Connacht, Ireland

Ballina is a town in north County Mayo, Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountains to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west. The town occupies two baronies; Tirawley on the west bank of the Moy River, and Tireragh, a barony within the County of Sligo, on its east banks. As of 2016, the population of Ballina was 10,171.

The Road Safety Authority, or RSA, is a state agency formed by the Irish Government to promote road safety within the Republic of Ireland. The agency has devolved control of much of the work of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

History

This cist was erected c. 2000 BC. [5]

According to Irish legend, in the early 7th century Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin was King of Connacht. The rightful king, Cellach of Killala, had become a priest and later bishop of Kilmoremoy (Ballina). Four of Guaire Aidne's brothers murdered him; they are known as the four Maols from the Irish word maol, "bald", referring to their tonsures – they were students of Cellach's (Mael Mac Deoraidh, Maelcroin, Maeldalua, and Maelseanaigh). [6] The four Maols were quartered at Ardnaree and then, supposedly, buried on Primrose Hill under the Dolmen of the Four Maols. [7] [8]

Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin was a king of Connacht. A member of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne and son of king Colmán mac Cobthaig. Guaire ruled at the height of Ui Fiachrach Aidne power in south Connacht.

Cellach of Killala is supposed to be an early Bishop of Killala, in Ireland.

Tonsure hairstyle related to religious devotion

Tonsure is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp, as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word tōnsūra and referred to a specific practice in medieval Catholicism, abandoned by papal order in 1972. Tonsure can also refer to the secular practice of shaving all or part of the scalp to show support or sympathy, or to designate mourning. Current usage more generally refers to cutting or shaving for monks, devotees, or mystics of any religion as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem.

Description

The massive capstone rests on three stones forming three sides of the square chamber. A fourth stone (probably the fourth side) lies nearby. [7] [9]

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Cenél Áeda na hEchtge

Cenél Áeda na hEchtge was a trícha cét (later a cantred, and which was the original formation of the southern part of the barony of Kiltartan, County Galway. This was the clan name of the O Shaughnessys and O Cahills who both ruled the territory until the O Cahills were forced from the area by the O Shaughnessys. The latter remained chiefs of the area until 1691 and the head family survived in the Gort area till the demise of the senior line in the 18th century. The name was taken after the cenél of Aedh, uncle to King Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin of Connacht.

Giolla Ceallaigh mac Comhaltan, fl. 10th century, ancestry to the MacGiolla Ceallaigh.

Scannlán mac Fearghal, ancestor of the Ó Scannláin family of County Galway, fl. 10th century.

Eidhean mac Cléireach, ancestor of the Ó hEidhin/Hynes family of County Galway, fl. 800.

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References

  1. ↑ "Dolmen of the Four Maols - Megalithic Tomb - County Mayo".Cite web requires |website= (help)
  2. ↑ "The Irish Archaeological Society". 1 January 1844 – via Google Books.Cite web requires |website= (help)
  3. ↑ Makem, Tommy (19 August 2014). "Tommy Makem's Secret Ireland". St. Martin's Press – via Google Books.Cite web requires |website= (help)
  4. ↑ "Stones of Ireland - Dolmen of the Four Maols".Cite web requires |website= (help)
  5. ↑ "The Dolmen of the Four Maols Ballina Co. Mayo Ireland".Cite web requires |website= (help)
  6. ↑ "Ballina Dolmen (Dolmen of the Four Maols) - Voices from the Dawn".Cite web requires |website= (help)
  7. 1 2 "Dolmen of the Four Maols, Ballina, Mayo".Cite web requires |website= (help)
  8. ↑ "Castlebar - County Mayo - The Dolmen Of The Four Maols".Cite web requires |website= (help)
  9. ↑ "megalithomania: Dolmen of the Four Maols (Mayo) :: Kist :: Visit notes".Cite web requires |website= (help)
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