The Meehambee Dolmen is a megalithic portal tomb dating from about 3500 BC located in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland.
Two local schoolchildren unearthed two stone axes in the 1960s.
[Taken from information board onsite.]
Originally supported on 6 upright portals, 2.3 metres high, the capstone is estimated to weigh twenty-four tonnes. The portal stone supporting the back of the capstone has collapsed, allowing the capstone to slide backwards out of position, causing the doorstone to collapse also. The capstone now rests at a 45-degree angle.
It is thought that these tombs, of which over 1,200 have been identified in Ireland, were either the burial place of a single important king or chieftain or perhaps the tombs of several members of a tribe who inhabited the area in the Neolithic era.
It was known locally as Leabaidh Éirn in the 1930s.
Location
It is located in County Roscommon, a few hundred metres from the M6 motorway (Ireland), M6. It is accessed by a bridle path off a local road from the R362 road (Ireland), R362 Regional road (Ireland), regional road in the village of Bellanamullia on the western outskirts of Athlone.
Gallery
Image:IMG Meehambee2820.jpg, Meehambee Dolmen
Image:IMG Meehambee2816.jpg, Meehambee Dolmen
Meehambee Dolmen 29-10-2015 2.JPG, Meehambee Dolmen
Image:IMG Meehambee2813.jpg, Camouflaged in moss, hardly visible on the bridle path
File:Information Panel Meehambee Dolmen.jpg, Information panel at site entrance
See also
* Dolmen
* Megalithic art
* European Megalithic Culture
* Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites
* Megalith
* Neolithic Europe
* Stone circle
References
*
External links
{{European Standing Stones
Dolmens in Ireland
Archaeological sites in County Roscommon
Tombs in the Republic of Ireland