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Iskaheen
Taken from Inishowen. A Journey through its past by Neil McGrory
The hills behind the village of Iskaheen offer an imposing setting
for the largest portal tomb (dolmen) in Inishowen - its capstone
maybe weighing 30 tons. The precise reason for its name is unclear
but its purpose is not. Originally referred to as a Druid's altar
(albeit incorrectly) it was thought that this type of monument was
used for sacrifice or some other Druidic rite, but investigations
have shown that these monuments marked burial places and probably
even predated the arrival of the druids.
The tomb is situated in bog-land but it is important to note that
during the period of its construction, Ireland had a different climate,
it was warmer and the present day bogs were forests. This means
that this tomb would have been many feet higher and would have appeared
even more imposing. There also appears to be traces of a cairn at
its base.

Situated in the middle of bogland on a mountain
road past the village of Iskaheen - a distance of approx. 3.25km
from the main Derry-Moville Road, from the Catholic Church just
outside the village of Muff. After going right at a fork on the
road just outside Iskaheen, the dolmen is visible from the road
on a downward slope at the left and is a distance of approximately
.25km from the aforementioned fork.
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