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Written by John McCullagh
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Friday, 06 June 2008 |
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It’s
getting round to tourist influx season again so I just thought it time I review
some of our archaeological heritage.
If you are interested in
the fairly recent past – like the twelfth century! – you might pay a visit to
the so-called Bagenal’s Castle ....
 Artist's impression Annacloughmullion Passage Grave, South Armagh
... in
Newry town, for this was the site of Newry’s famous Cistercian monastery
established here almost nine hundred years ago. More on this can be found if you “Search” these pages.
The
site of the modern town may have been settled thousands of years before that,
for the abundance of Bronze Age (and earlier) settlements in the neighbourhood indicates so,
as does the fact that the famous east coast road (the Sliagh Midluacha – going
from Newgrange, Meath to Dunseverick in Antrim) skirted the hills to the west
of our town. It is estimated that there
is 6000 years of continuous habitation, dating back to the time when man first
appeared in Ireland!
Some
of those early settlers left their mark on our landscape. From them we have three types of tomb
represented here:
- Court tombs have a
semi-circular ‘forecourt’ (which is how they got their name) bordered by a
curving façade of upright stones (ortostats) which flank the entrance to
the burial chambers. The King’s
Ring at Clontygora (just beyond the Flagstaff Viewpoint on the Upper Fathom Road)
is an excellent example, as is the Black Castle
at Annaghmare (near Cullyhanna) and of course, Ballymacdermott right on
our doorstep at Cloughogue. These
are among the finest examples of their type in the whole North of
Ireland.
- The portal tomb
(also known as a dolmen); and the Hag’s Chair at Ballykeel (Mullaghbawn)
with its huge capstone on top of three massive uprights covering the
chamber is a fine example.
- The passage tomb,
which is a large stone cairn in which a narrow passage leads to a broader
burial chamber beneath the cairn. The South Cairn at the top of Slieve Gullion mountain (Killeavey)
is a fine example. Other excellent
examples are at Newgrange, Knowth and Fourknocks.... and ..
perhaps a fourth: ... d. The wedge tomb (also called a dolmen) similar to but thought to post-date the portal tomb (and having much heavier and larger stones) and to be named for the distinctive shape not just of its standing stones (orthostats) and enormous capstone sloping downwards from front to rear and narrowing at the back - but of the enclosed air-space within. This style is believed to have reached Ireland from France sometime about the second millennia before the Christian era. Some say there are no examples of the type in our area. Others speculate that the Proleek Dolmen at the Ballymascanlon Hotel in Ravensdale and perhaps Goward near Hilltown could be properly thus classified.
Archaeological
evidence (pottery, stone tools and human remains) unearthed at various times
from the above examples indicate a continued millennium-long usage not just for
burial but also for religious and ritual, and ceremonial uses. Certainly later farming communities practiced
the latter.
…..
more later …..
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Recreation 
