Malin More Portal Tombs, Donegal, Ireland

The portal tombs at Malin More are a very intriguing composition, six tombs in various states of completion or ruin stretching from east to west, 90 meters in width. The tombs are situated in two separate fields, three in each. The largest of the tombs are situated at either end of the row. Both would have pointed outwards in an eastern direction, away from the sea. The tomb to the very west of the row is the least ruinous of all the tombs. There is also a standing stone in an adjacent field that is part of the same complex. Another interesting feature (that sadly failed to come out on my photos) is a large quartzite block located in the field wall, it has the look of a well worked stone and may have once held some significance to this site.  Some visitors have suggested that the entirety of the six portal tombs may have been encased in a large cairn and this was certainly the impression that, Thomas Fagan, who visited the site in 1847 had. He referred to a small, low, stony mound, surviving alongside the easternmost chamber and what ‘appears to be the remnant of a cairn’. Although the tombs at Malin More are in various states of ruin it still is intriguing site to visit.

GPS: 54.689722, -8.775833

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