Ballina, Co. Mayo

Location: From Ballina,take the R 314 south past the fire station. As the road crosses over N 59, it becomes N 26. Take the first right (Cockle Street) after this intersection (after crossing N 59). This runs behind the train station. There was some serious roadwork in progress here in 2004. The dolmen sits on a hillock above the road about a quarter of a kilometer down on the left.

Dimensions: The west sidestone is .75 meters high. The east sidestone is .9 meters high. The south-leaning backstone is 1.1 meters high. The roofstone rests on the two sidestones and partially on the backstone. The roofstone is approximately 1.5 meters in length and .6 meters thick. Approximately 3.5 meters south of the dolmen lies another stone approximately .8 meters thick which may have closed this tomb. The opening faces roughly south.

Features: A small chunky dolmen surrounded by a wood and wire fence.

Comments: Modern life has encroached badly on this little dolmen. It was difficult to reach (hopefully there is now a true access to it) and then once on top of the little hill which had been cut away by roadworks, a very unattractive fence surrounds the site. This is very small, but rather cute - no matter what kind of tomb it is.

History: There is not enough left of this structure to determine the exact type of tomb. There is a trace of cairn material, but not enough to be able to even determin the original size of this monument. I could not determine whether any excavation had ever been conducted. The tomb is associated with a legend whereby four brothers were involved in a murder plot, discovered, hanged and buried here for their crime.