Brownshill Dolmen
dolmen
/ˈdɒlmɛn/
Noun
1. A megalithic tomb
with a large horizontal stone laid on upright ones.
Idiot’s guide to building a dolmen
Step 1: Gather
a number of boulders (not to be mixed up with rocks) and stand them close to
each other to make what will be the legs.
Step 2: Gather
a really big boulder and with a few mates, rest it on top of the legs to form a
capstone.
Idiot’s guide to building Brownshill Dolmen
Step 1: Gather
a number of boulders (not to be mixed up with rocks) and stand them close to
each other to make what will be the legs.
Step 2: Gather
the biggest feckin’ boulder you’ve ever seen and with every man, woman and
child in the community, place it on top of the legs to form the mother of all
capstones!
While Brownshill
Dolmen (or the Kernanstown Cromlech as it’s sometimes known) may not be
as immediately recognisable or as stately as the likes of Poulnabrone Dolmen in
County Clare, it is every bit as fascinating. Beautiful in that ‘only his
mother could love him’ sort of way, Brownshill Dolmen is the colossus of Irish
portal tombs – or any portal tombs for that matter. What makes Brownshill
unique is its capstone, which, at over 103 metric tonnes, is the heaviest
capstone in Europe.
Visiting Brownshill
Dolmen often leaves a tourist with two questions. The first: where on earth do
you find a 103-tonne boulder? It’s not usually something you dig out of your
back garden with a stick. The second: how on earth did a group of farmers about
5,000 or 6,000 years ago find the time and ability to lift a 103-tonne capstone
– a weight roughly similar to that of a Boeing 757?! Whatever the answers, I
just really hope they kept their backs straight and bent their knees while they
were doing it.
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