The Kilclooney Dolmen is one of the most visually striking portal tombs I have had the pleasure of visiting. Its pointed and angular appearance stands out as one approaches across a number of fields, an access route that is kindly provided by the landowner. The capstone is mammoth, measuring four metres by six. It is supported by two orthostats measuring almost two metres in height, and a shorter back stone on which the capstone rests. It is orientated North-East to South-West. One of the most interesting features is that of the ‘chocking stone’ or ‘pad stone’, this being a rock inserted between the back stone and the capstone that would have been used to adjust the angle of the capstone. The adjusting of the capstone may have been done to let light pass through at certain times/dates into a chamber behind the tomb at a time when the whole structure would have been enveloped in a mound of earth and stone. 

Interestingly a smaller now subsided portal tomb stands about five metres behind the main dolmen. It has a collapsed capstone but this appears to have been something that is a relatively recent occurrence in the long life of the tomb. In a watercolour by Rev. Joseph Turner from 1799 based upon an earlier drawing by antiquarian William Burton Conyngham the capstone is still in place. It must have been damaged in the following fifty years because when Thomas Fagan of the Ordnance Survey visited the monument in 1847 it was described as ‘partly dislodged’. Though the tomb is somewhat ruined it still is a striking megalith with a capstone that looks like it was always going to be difficult to support, however the Donegal granite that this tomb is constructed from is a very hard and resilient stone.  

The tombs at Kilclooney are visible across a wide area and one can only imagine how spectacular it would have looked when the whole site was encased in a massive mound of stone and earth. Kilclooney is one of the lesser visited tombs in Ireland, considering how spectacular it is, and it’s a lovely place to have all to oneself. Would most certainly recommend a visit.

GPS: 54.81753, -8.43307