Court Cairns are among the oldest Megalithic Tombs in Ireland. Most
of these tombs were built in the northern half of the county. A Court
Cairn is a tomb consisting of two sections ; a Gallery ( This would
originally have been covered) and a Courtyard. The Cremated remains of
the dead were placed inside the covered Gallery. It is believed that the
open Courtyard was used for ceremonial purposes. The whole Court Cairn
would have been covered over by a mound of small stones called a Cairn.
In the centuries that have passed the Cairn in all the Court Cairns have
since collapsed, leaving the internal stone structure remaining.
Drawing showing the open Courtyard and the Gallery covered by a cairn of small stones.Aerial view of Creevykeel Court Tomb, Co. Sligo, Ireland
In this video watch out for the amount of stones that were used to
make the cairn. These stones are now collapsed and lay scattered around
the tomb.
