MovilleInishowen.com.
*
 
Back to home page 
     

 

 

 


   

 

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.

Back

 
   
Click here to visit the IRDL website.
Supported by the NE Inishowen Company.