Browneshill Dolmen

The capstone at Browneshill is usually given as over a hundred tonnes and is generally described as the heaviest in Europe. It rests on two portal stones at the front and a low stone behind, so the whole slab tilts steeply down to the ground at the rear - the front end is more than two metres up and the back end touches the earth, which is a common portal tomb arrangement but exaggerated here by the sheer mass. It dates to somewhere between 4000 and 3000 BC. How the stone was raised is unknown and every explanation offered is speculative; the likeliest is that it was levered up on an earth ramp that was afterwards removed. The tomb stands in a field on the edge of Carlow with a car park and a short surfaced path to a viewing area beside it. There is no charge, no staff, and a single interpretation panel.

What's there

• The capstone - over a hundred tonnes, reckoned the heaviest in Europe.
• The tilt - the slab dropping from over two metres at the front to the ground behind.
• The portal stones - the uprights carrying the front edge.
• The field setting - farmland on the edge of Carlow town.

When to go

April to October for the ground, though the path is surfaced. Low sun makes the mass of the stone read better than midday. Half an hour covers it.

What to expect

A single monument with a panel and nothing else - no facilities and no staff. The path leads to a viewing area beside the tomb rather than allowing you to climb on it, which is the point. It is a twenty-minute stop.

Nearby

Carlow town and its castle ruins are west; Duckett's Grove is north-east.

Key facts