![]() (2) Our group visiting the Poulnabrone dolmen with Tour Leader Phil Cousineau on a journey to Ireland. They feature in Irish mythological stories and folklore and are often associated with graves of famous giants or warriors. There are around 180 dolmens in Ireland known by many different names including stone tables, Cromleachs, or Giants’ Graves. There are dolmen sites throughout Europe and Asia, including the dolmen Er Roc’h Feutet (Roch-Feutet) in Carnac, France, the Monte Bubbonia in Sicily, several in Gochang, South Korea and in Kerala, India. Photo: Sacred Earth Journeys participant David Chasis What is a dolmen?ĭolmens are thought to have been ancient tombs or burial markers and also served as places for ritual and worship although their exact purpose and significance is still debated by scholars and researchers. (1) Poulnabrone dolmen on the Burren plateau in Ireland is a classic example of a portal tomb. Of course, they do have the dolmen roped off at a discreet circumference to protect it from us and, I assume, us from becoming accidental Nebraskans.Poulnabrone dolmen is an example of a portal dolmen or portal tomb, not to be confused with passage tombs such as Newgrange! Dolmens are found in Ireland and throughout the world and are generally characterized as a single-chamber megalithic tomb, often consisting of three or more upright stones (megaliths) supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table). Probably none more accessible, either, since it has its own parking lot. ![]() ![]() None is more famous than Poulnabrone, though. In fact, there are scores of them on the Burren itself, maybe even up to a hundred. These pi/table/doorway-shaped dolmens occur all over Ireland, Europe, and the world. Apparently, nobody wants to even possibly end up in Nobpot. This is, of course, just a rumor since nobody’ll actually test the idea. Also, I’ve heard, because if you walk through them, you’ll be transported to Nobpot, Nebraska. The pi-shaped nature of many of these dolmens also wins them the name portal tombs since they look like doorways. Rain and other water sources wore down the rocks like cola on a tooth until it achieved weird fragmented shapes, in this case grikes and clints, which are basically nooks and crannies.įor you see, standing lonely in the small national park area of the Burren (except for the crowds of tourists surrounding it, of course) is the Poulnabrone Dolmen.ĭolmens are the stone remains of ancient mound tombs, where all the dirt has worn away, leaving only its table-like infrastructure. In many cases, and in the case of the Burren, that rock is limestone. The Burren, which basically means “rocky” (although some translate it as “Rocky IV”), is a 100-square-mile karst landscape, meaning that its topography is made up of partially dissolved rock. I’ll start with the Burren to put off having to make sure I spell the other one correctly every time I use it. ![]() ![]() Actually, we’re dealing with two Irish oddities, the Poulnabrone Dolmen, a megalithic tomb in County Clare, and the Burren, which is the landscape where the dolmen sits. It’s just about Irish oddity, so there’s going to be some Celtic-fu being thrown around here, plus we’re dealing with a landscape unique enough that it gets its own vocabulary. Ma– Across the grikes and clints of the karst region in Eire known as the Burren stands the Poulnabrone Dolmen. ![]()
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