Westropf — Cists, Dolmens, mid Pillars of Co. Clare. 451 



Ardnataggle,^ in the eastern baronies). Its nearest congener in tlie 

 west is the pillared dolmen of Ballyganner, with at least three 

 compartments, having pillars rising above the roof-slabs at the two 

 divisions. One pair may have had the lintel now at their feet set 

 on them as a trilithon. A few irregular or circular enclosures, 

 such as the two at Clooney, and others at Ballycahill, Rylane, Bally- 

 ganner, Ballybeg, Fortanne, and Dooneen, form a class by themselves 

 and retain no cists inside. 



Oriet^tatio?s". 



We almost hesitate to use this word where the higher and wider 

 frontage is almost invariably towards the setting sun, " the region of 

 the dead." "VVe also more than question whether any minute accuracy 

 was involved in the laying out of either dolmens or early churches. 

 Save a few striking examples of very "northerly" direction, as at 

 Creevagh, Leanna, the pillared dolmen, and at Poulnabrone (jS'.N.E. 

 and S.S.W.), the majority "face" more or less to the east or north- 

 east. We have rarely noted any extreme "southward" direction; 

 Deerpark, the axis fully E.S.E., is the most striking. 



Structueal Features. 



Raised Blocks. — The only facts bearing on the making of dolmens 

 which we have observed are the cases of carefully raised slabs 

 near them, notably at Parknabinnia. This, with the adjoining 

 Leanna and Cotteen, forms an extensive cemetery, with fifteen dolmens 

 besides cairns and enclosures. Near the third and fourth dolmens, to 

 the west, is a small field, the surface-crags of which have been levered 

 up and propped at one side on rounded blocks of sandstone. The 

 slabs are of exactly the same sizes as those in the dolmens, but have 

 not been dressed on the edges. They have broken into fairly rect- 

 angular blocks along the natural lines of cleavage. Owing to the 

 comparative lowness of the sides (rarely shoulder-high, usually three 

 or four feet), there need have been little difficulty (especially where 

 embedded in a cairn or mound) in using the sides as " rails," up 

 which the covers could slide with sufficient leverage. The objection 

 raised as to scarcity of trees does not hold good, as the place-names 

 and the countless stumps in the bogs show that timber was once 

 plentiful along the coast ; and several place-names show that the 

 valleys (at least) were wooded in the Burren. Such names as 



I Proc. xxiv. (C), pp. 124-128. 



