Goward Dolmen
Pat Kearney's Big Stone · Goward Portal Tomb
Middle Neolithic·Irish Portal Tomb·🇬🇧 County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
About
About Goward Dolmen
Portal tomb between Hilltown and Castlewellan, County Down, in a farmer's field in the townland of Goward, built c.3500 BCE. A massive granite capstone 3.5 m long rests on two portal stones at the south end of a 30×10 m cairn whose north end contains a cist. Excavated 1932 by A. E. P. Collins, it is locally called Pat Kearney's Big Stone and anchors a dense South Down tomb group.
Why it mattersPortal tomb between Hilltown and Castlewellan, County Down, in a farmer's field in the townland of Goward, built c.3500 BCE. A massive granite capstone 3.5 m long rests on two portal stones at the south end of a 30×10 m
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Dual portal plus cist function
Theories
- 01Cairn with opposed tomb ends
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3500 BCE
- Period
- Middle Neolithic
- Culture
- Irish Portal Tomb
- Purpose
- Portal tomb on cairn with cist
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1148 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
54.2146° N · 6.0913° W · 150 m · 2 mapped features
Portal tomb capstone
portal tombCapstone 3.5×2 m on two 1.5 m portals at south end of cairn
54.2146° N · 6.0913° WNorth end cist
cistStone cist at north end of 30 m cairn
54.2148° N · 6.0912° W
Gallery