Scheduled MonumentsNorthern IrelandCookstownDermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn
NEOLITHIC · MEGALITHIC TOMB

Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn

Cookstown, Northern Ireland
NISMR MonID 15002
Period
NEOLITHIC
Site type
MEGALITHIC TOMB
Nation
Northern Ireland
The designation
Reference
NISMR MonID 15002
Authority
DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Grid reference
H6796075690
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)

Overview

History & significance

Dermot and Gránia's Bed is a Neolithic portal tomb and long cairn located near Cookstown, County Tyrone. Built during the Neolithic period, this megalithic monument belongs to a widespread class of collective burial chambers found across Ireland and Britain. The site sits upon bedrock formed from an unnamed igneous intrusion of Silurian age, composed of felsic rock that has weathered to create the underlying geology of this part of County Tyrone.

The monument comprises a stone chamber accessed through a portal entrance, typical of portal tombs constructed between approximately 4000 and 3500 BCE. The long cairn would originally have covered the entire burial chamber, creating a substantial earthen and stone mound aligned roughly east to west. This construction method served both to protect the chamber and to create a visually prominent communal monument in the landscape.

The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities under scheduled monument reference 15002. Such monuments are invaluable records of Neolithic settlement patterns, burial practices and social organisation, demonstrating the significance of collective ritual and monument-building in prehistoric Ireland. Dermot and Gránia's Bed remains an important archaeological and cultural landmark, reflecting the deep antiquity of human habitation in the Cookstown area.

Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 15002. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn?

Dermot and Gránia's Bed is a Neolithic portal tomb and long cairn located near Cookstown, County Tyrone. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 15002.

What period does Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn date from?

Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn 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.

Who is responsible for protecting Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn?

Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn 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 15002.

What other scheduled monuments are near Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Stone circles (3) & alignment (3 km), Stone circles (2) & double alignment (3.5 km), Standing stone (4.5 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman World
Ireland was never conquered by Rome, so this traces the island's Iron Age kingdoms and its contact with the Roman world.
Historic Records
The 19th-century records of this place: valuations, Ordnance Survey memoirs and topographical accounts.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn

Dermot & grania's bed. portal tomb & long cairn stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is felsic-rock.