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Carnmore is a court tomb, a distinctive megalithic monument dating to the Neolithic period. Located near Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, it represents a type of communal burial structure characteristic of the earliest farming communities in Ireland. Court tombs are defined by their D-shaped or oval forecourt area, which would have been used for ritual gatherings, leading to a chamber where human remains were deposited. The monument is constructed from stone gathered from the surrounding landscape, overlying bedrock of the Argyll Group, metamorphic rocks of psammite, semipelite and pelite formed during the Neoproterozoic era.
The site is situated in an area of considerable geological antiquity, where Neolithic builders selected and worked stone suited to their monumental purposes over three thousand years ago. The court tomb tradition flourished primarily in the northern half of Ireland during the fourth and third millennia before the present, making such structures among the oldest field monuments in the landscape.
Carnmore is protected as a scheduled monument by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland, under reference 14278, ensuring its preservation for future study and public appreciation.
Carnmore. court tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 14278. View the official record →
Carnmore is a court tomb, a distinctive megalithic monument dating to the Neolithic period. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 14278.
Carnmore. court tomb dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Carnmore. court tomb is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 14278.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Camus church. church & graveyard (2.9 km), Platform rath (3.3 km), Tievenny fort. platform rath (4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Carnmore. court tomb's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Carnmore. court tomb stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.