Commons

Court Tomb/Cairn

This megalithic monument is classed by the National Monuments Service as a double court tomb. 429 court tombs/cairns have been identified on the Island of Ireland, with over 300 of these in the Republic of Ireland. The vast majority of court tombs are located in the northern third of the Island. A court tomb can be described as a trapezoidal cairn with an open horseshoe shaped forecourt at the widest end. The court gave access to a gallery, which is generally divided into chambers, the gallery was originally covered by the cairn. Many of these monuments are single court tombs, but there are various other forms such as the double court tomb at Aghanaglack in County Fermanagh, the excellent example of a full court tomb at Creevykeel in Sligo and the enormous centre court tomb at Magheraghanrush also in County Sligo.

The monument here at Commons is situated on a slight hill in undulating farmland. It has two back to back court tombs, unlike Aghanaglack, they do not share the same backstone, there is a gap between them. Pictured above and below left is the tomb with a single chamber, the court faces north-west and a few of the court stones remain. The south-east gallery, pictured below right, has two chambers, but nothing remains of the court.

North-west gallery

South-east gallery