Phoenix Park Ancient Burial Site.
In Ireland Megalithic tombs are given many different names such as Dolmen, Cromlech, the Giant’s Grave and Dermot & Grainne’s Bed.
The etymology of the word Dolmen: From French, perhaps changed from the Cornish word ’ tol’ meaning hole and ’ men’ a stone. Definition:1859
The Linkardstown-type cist.
Dating from 3500 BCE to 3000 BCE the Linkardstown-type cist is situated in the middle of Ireland’s Neolithic period. Only about fifteen of these have been excavated and are mainly found in Munster and South Leinster. Consisting of a large cap stone held up by supporting stones they were once covered by a mound or cairn and were the resting place for one individual. A highly decorated round bottomed earthenware bowel in a bipartite pattern was placed alongside the remains. The mound itself was a much larger structure than the cist. In the Ashleypark site in Co.Tipperary the mound was 26m in diameter and 5m in height, ringed by raised banks giving an overall size of 90m in diameter. The Image for this article shows the Linkardstown-type cist situated in the Phoenix Park, Dublin near St Marys Hospital.
IMAGE: Knockmaree Linkardstown Cist – image from the book ‘Of Druids Altars & Giants Graves’
This article was originally published in:
Fountain News Digital – March 2011 (Issue 3)
We are re-publishing all articles from our past newsletter, Fountain News Digital, and you can view all completed newsletters here. There were nine issues published in total between 2010 and 2012.
