BELTANY STONE CIRCLE

Map Reference: C255005

About 2.5km S of Raphoe, in Tops townland, is Beltany Stone Circle. This is a large low platform, about 50cm high, defined by a circle of 64 stones. There may have been originally about 80 stones. The diameter of the circle is about 45m. There is a large number of half-buried stones within the circle, some of which may belong to an original cairn. The standing stones are of various sizes and one of them has a large number of small cupmarks on the inner surface. To the SE of the circle is an outlying standing stone about 2m high.

BUNCRANA CASTLE

Map Reference: C342326

Buncrana Castle is also known as O'Doherty's Keep. Parts of the building may date from the 15th century but extensive renovations and repairs were carried out in the early 17th century. The small tower is three storeys high. The original entrance was on the ground floor in the north wall. The present entrance is on the first floor in the east wall.

CROAGHBEG COURT TOMB

Map Reference: G645751

This impressive tomb is set in a cairn 36m long by 16m wide. At the NW end is a full court about 10m diameter which leads to a N-S two-chambered burial gallery. The first impression is one of size. The gallery is of massive construction. A huge lintel spans the entrance to the chambers and there are many large corbelled roofing stones still in place. The chambers are divided by well-defined jambs and sillstones. When complete the height of the roof must have exceeded 2m. This reinforces the belief by many scholars that court tombs were meant to be entered after completion and were not merely depositories for bones. The court, at either side of the entrance, is built of large blocks laid on two courses. At the NW, beside the entrance to the court, is a single subsidiary chamber.

DRUMANOO COURT TOMB

Map Reference: G698739

This overgrown tomb is situated on the high ground to the south of Killybegs, overlooking the harbour. Little remains of the tomb to indicate its original form. There is no trace of the court. Seven stones form a large chamber, about 4m long, with a well-defined portal. An eighth stone lies just outside the chamber. The sidestones project just beyond the end of the chamber.

FARRANMACBRIDE COURT TOMB

Map Reference: G534855

Farranmacbride is a very fine centre-court tomb. A farm lane with stone walls runs NW-SE through the middle of the court  and many of the court stones in this area are missing. There are two two-chambered galleries running off the court at the SW and NE ends and single subsidiary chambers at the N, E and S corners. There may have been a fourth subsidiary chamber at the W corner but this area has been largely destroyed by the building of a field wall. There is one lintel in place and several displaced lintels in the SW tomb. At the NE tomb there is a displaced lintel and another lintel and a capstone in place. The subsidiary tomb at the E has a capstone in place. There is a great deal of cairn material. The total length of the cairn is about 60m and the court is reckoned to be the largest in Ireland.

GLENCOLMCILLE

Map Reference: G532850

Glencolmcille is famous for the turas or penitential pilgrimages that are made round the various stations on June 9, the saint's day. The pilgrimage starts at midnight and has to be completed before sunrise. The stations are marked by small cairns or by cross-inscribed pillar stones which are associated with the early monastery. There is a very fine cross-inscribed stone in the graveyard of Glencolmcille Church of Ireland. It is broken in two but would have stood about 2m high when whole. There is another such stone set in a small cairn the the west of the church. Just beside the church, in Straid townland, is the modern entrance to a souterrain. Entrance is down through a vertical shaft to a large rectangular chamber, which has low passages running off in opposite directions.

KILBEG WEDGE TOMB

Map Reference: G598756

Three facade stone, about 1m high, form the western edge of the tomb. The centre stone divides the entrance. There are two sidestones at the N and four at the S. The eastern edge of the tomb is concealed or destroyed. One roofing stone is still in place and there may be other displaced stones. Some of the outer wall may be seen at the N edge but the S edge is hidden by a field boundary.

KILCLOONEY MORE PORTAL TOMBS

Map Reference: G723698

In Kilclooney More there are two portal tombs. In the larger tomb the portal stones are about 1.7m high and between them is a doorstone about 50cm high. The sides of the chamber are of single slabs and there is a backstone between them. The roofstone is over 4m long and it rests on the portals and on a small stone on top of the backstone. About 10m away is a much smaller tomb of similar design but with a lintel above the portals. Both tombs lie within the remains of a long cairn.

LARGYNAGREANA WEDGE TOMB

Map Reference: G101774

Like most wedge tombs this is quite a simple structure It is about 4.5m long and narrows from about 1.5m wide at the front to less than 1m wide at the back. The portico at the W end is separated from the burial chamber by a septal stone. The chamber has four stones on each side and there is a single large capstone. It is covered with sod and partly buried. A single stone from the outer wall stands about 1m from the rear of the gallery.

CLOGHANMORE COURT TOMB, MALIN MORE

Map reference: G518826

This large full-court tomb is set in a coffin-shaped cairn about 40m long. At the W end of the court, which is about 14m long by 11m wide, are two parallel galleries each divided into two chambers by jamb stones. The S gallery has a very fine lintel at the entrance and some large cobels in the roof. Each gallery is about 5m long. At the E end of the court is an entrance passage about 3m long and 2m wide. Single subsidiary chambers open into the court on either side of the entrance passage.

MALIN MORE PORTAL TOMBS

Map reference: G502825

To the south of Malin More village is a group of six portal tombs. They form a line about 90m long with two large tombs at the E and W ends and four smaller tombs in between. The most westerly tomb is the best preserved. The portal stones are about 2.5m high although the N portal stone is broken. Two capstones are visible but the front one is displaced. There is a gabled backstone. A stone about 2.5m high stands just outside the S portal. This is a feature found at some other portal tombs e.g. Ticloy, Co Antrim and Tirnony, Co Derry. Such features suggest that portal tombs may be derived from court tombs, although excavation does not provide further evidence of a court associated with a portal tomb. The most easterly tomb is greatly confused. The backstone, a sidestone and a large capstone can be easily seen but the portals appear to be hidden beneath the capstone and other displaced stones. The portal stones would be about 2.5m high when erect. The tomb is encroached on by field boundaries. The stones of the smaller tombs are greatly deranged but portal stones, capstones and backstones can be found. About 100m W of the group is a standing stone more than 1m high. It is triangular in plan at the base, about 50cm by 50cm by 25cm. It stands at the edge of a low circular cairn about 3m diameter.

THE BISHOP'S PALACE, RAPHOE

Map Reference: C259028

Raphoe Castle, or the Bishop's Palace, was built in 1636 by John Leslie, Bishop of Raphoe. It is a square four-storey block with salient-angled towers at the corners. It is prominently sited and protected on the N, W and S sides by steep slopes. There are gun-loops at the lower storey. The castle was extensively restored in the 1820s but destroyed by fire in 1838.

SHALWY COURT TOMB

Map Reference: G646752

This tomb is very similar to the one at Croaghbeg. The coffin-shaped cairn is about 40m long. There is an oval court but without a subsidiary chamber as found at Croaghbeg. The burial chamber is about 6m long and is divided into two chambers by jambs and a lintel. The entrance to the gallery is surmounted by a lintel consisting of two great superimposed stones, the top stone being gable-shaped. The back chamber is roofed by a large slab resting on several tiers of corbels

TOOME PORTAL TOMB

Map Reference: B791015

This tomb is situated at the W end of a cairn.The portal stones are about 2m high and between them is a doorstone about 1.3m high. The sides of the chamber are of single stones about 70cm high, each supporting a corbel. There is a gabled backstone less than 1m high. The roofstone is about 1.5m long. At the E end of the cairn is another structure. It is rectangular with at least four slabs. In the neighbouring field is a stone about 80cm high by 40cm wide and 20cm thick. On one face is an inscribed cross about 25cm by 25cm. It is greatly worn but there appears to be T-bar terminals to the arms of the cross and triangular terminals to the shaft.