Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb

Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb

Tuama Dinge Pháirc Ráth Bhrannaibh
The tomb in 2016
Shown within Ireland
Location	Rathfranpark, Killala, County Mayo, Ireland
Coordinates	54°14′31″N9°15′09″W / 54.242008°N 9.252568°W / 54.242008; -9.252568
Type	wedge-shaped gallery grave
Length	3 meters
Width	2 meters
Height	1.8 meters
History
Founded	c. 2250 BC
National monument of Ireland
Official name	Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb
Reference no.	633

The Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland. ^{[1] [2]}

Location

Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb is located 4 km (2.5 mi) northwest of Killala village, overlooking the Palmerstown River, Killala Bay and the Ox Mountains in County Sligo. ^[3]

History

This wedge tomb was built c. 2500–2000 BC, in the Copper or Bronze Age. ^{[4] [5]}

A stone circle once stood close to the tomb until the 1950s, when the stones were uprooted and dumped onto the wedge tomb. ^[6]

Description

The tomb has a gallery over 3 m (9.8 ft) long and 2 m (6 ft 7 in) wide, with side walls composed of boulders up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) high. The gallery axis is ENE-WSW, so the ENE end points towards the rising sun at the summer solstice. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

References

1. Weir, Anthony. "Rathfranpark".
2. Borllase, William Copeland (1897). The Dolmens of Ireland: Volume I. London: Chapman & Hall. pp. 114–115.
3. Meehan, Cary (2004). Sacred Ireland. Somerset: Gothic Image Publications. p. 645. ISBN   0 906362 43 1.
4. "Cabragh".
5. "Cabragh Wedge Tomb, Sligo - TripAdvisor".
6. "Saints and Stones: Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb".
7. Map, The Megalithic Portal and Megalith. "Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb".
8. "Rathfranpark Wedge Tomb".
9. "megalithomania: Rathfranpark (Mayo) :: Wedge Tomb :: Visit notes".