Creevykeel Court Tomb

Court tombs are a Neolithic form found mainly in the northern third of Ireland, characterised by an open forecourt leading to a burial gallery. Creevykeel is the classic example of the full-court variant: a large oval courtyard, about fifteen metres across and completely enclosed by orthostats except for the entrance passage, opening into a two-chambered gallery, all within a trapezoidal cairn about fifty metres long. Three further chambers were added later on the sides. It was excavated in 1935 by a Harvard expedition, which found cremated remains, Neolithic pottery and flint, and dated the primary construction to around 3500 BC; a later iron-smelting furnace was also found in the court, showing reuse in the early medieval period. The site is beside the main road with a lay-by and a short path, free, unstaffed and open at any hour, and it takes about half an hour.

What you actually see

• The full court - an enclosed oval forecourt about fifteen metres across.
• The gallery - the two-chambered burial passage behind it.
• The cairn - trapezoidal, around fifty metres long.
• The reuse - the early medieval iron furnace found within the court.

When to go

April to October for the ground. Open at any hour with no gate. Low sun morning or evening makes the stone settings much easier to read. Half an hour covers it.

Honest expectations

A roadside monument with a panel and nothing else - no facilities, no staff. The field is wet and the stones are slippery. It reads as a stone setting rather than a structure; the interest is in the plan.

Nearby

Mullaghmore is north-west; Streedagh and Grange are south.