"Westkopp — Cists, Dolmens, and PiUars of East Clare. 117 



auother lying on the hill of Tulla, of which I can fiud no trace, and 

 ■which is not on the maps, though this, of course, disproves nothing. 



KiLNOE. 



(31.) Cloghek or Deukvmokk, Kiluoe Parish (0. S. Sheet 35, 

 No. 5). — This townland was called Clogher before 1651, and 

 derives its name from the many great limestone blocks and out- 

 crops of crag rising in its fields. It is, however, best known as 

 Derrymore, as it forms that very picturesque demesne lying along the 

 winding shores of Lough Breeda. That the place was inhabited by 

 more than wandering hunters in early times is shown by various 

 defaced forts and two crannoges on the lake. 



The dolmen is one of the most curious, and I think the most 

 massive, examples among the monuments of the county. My attention 

 was first called to it by Mrs. Gore, of Derrymore, it being apparently 

 a mere natural block. It lies in a grove of trees south of the first txu'n 

 on the older (northern) avenue. At the opposite side of the avenue 

 we notice a great block similar to the cover of the dolmen. This is 

 embedded in a bank of drift about 6 feet above the level of the foot of 

 the bank ; and the gravel underneath has been partly hollowed out. 

 This fact and the appearance of similar blocks (lying near it on low 

 ridges of drift and gravel) lead us to suppose that the dolmen cover 

 also rested on such a mound, under which the grave-makers ran a 

 tunnel, inserting upright blocks underneath so as to form a cist ; this 

 was double-walled to provide against the pressure of the cover. Even- 

 tually — whether soon after the interment or at some other time during 

 the long subsequent centuries — the cover "kicked out" the outer 

 slabs and crushed and splintered the weaker inner ones. The broken 

 and fallen blocks, however, still bore up the mass sufliciently to allow 

 one to explore and make a plan of the structure. The cover is a 

 massive irregular slab of rough limestone, 12 feet 7 inches east and 

 west, 10 feet 6 inches north and south, and from 3 feet and 3 feet 6 inches 

 at the ends to 4 feet 6 inches in the middle. The west face is 6 feet 

 long, the south-west 8 feet 7 inches, the eastern 7 feet 6 inches, the 

 remaining edges 3 feet and 5 feet. Underneath, as may be seen by the 

 plan, was a cist 9 feet 5 inches by 7 feet 4 inches, with double lines of 

 slabs to the sides. The east end slab is 7 feet 4 inches long, the 

 northern innerside is 8 feet ; the southern is broken ; they are 9 inches 

 to 10 inches thick. The outer north slabs are more massive, 7 feet 

 .6 inches by 7 feet 5 inches by 12 inches to 18 inches, and 5 feet 



