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Dergmore's grave is a portal tomb of Neolithic date, located near Magherafelt in County Londonderry. This megalithic monument represents the funerary architecture of Ireland's earliest farming communities, built during the fourth millennium before the present. Portal tombs are characterised by their distinctive entrance formed by two tall upright stones supporting a massive capstone, which frames access to an internal burial chamber. The construction of such monuments required considerable communal effort and reflects the social organisation and ritual practices of Neolithic society.
The tomb is constructed from stone sourced locally from the surrounding landscape. The bedrock beneath the site comprises the Roe Valley Group, a geological formation of Tournaisian age comprising sandstone, conglomerate and argillaceous rocks. These materials would have been naturally available for quarrying and dressing in the vicinity, making the site a practical location for monument construction. The local geology thus shaped both the feasibility and character of building at Dergmore.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland) under reference 12798. Portal tombs such as this represent an important element of Northern Ireland's prehistoric heritage, providing evidence of settlement patterns, burial practices and the cultural landscape of the Neolithic period.
Dergmore's grave. portal tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 12798. View the official record →
Dergmore's grave is a portal tomb of Neolithic date, located near Magherafelt in County Londonderry. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 12798.
Dergmore's grave. portal 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.
Dergmore's grave. portal 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 12798.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Counterscarp rath (1 km), Standing stone, possibly remains of megalithic tomb (1.2 km), Rath (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Dergmore's grave. portal 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.
Dergmore's grave. portal tomb stands on Roe Valley Group, bedrock that formed in the Tournaisian. The rock here is sandstone, conglomerate and [subordinate] argillaceous rocks.