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Druids' Altar is a portal tomb situated near Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. This neolithic megalithic monument consists of a stone burial chamber accessed through a distinctive entrance defined by two large portal stones, a characteristic design of such tombs constructed during the neolithic period. The monument stands on bedrock formed from mafic igneous rock, part of an unnamed igneous intrusion of Ordovician to Silurian age, geology that has shaped the landscape of this region for hundreds of millions of years.
Portal tombs functioned as communal burial places and likely served important ceremonial purposes within neolithic communities. The monument's presence near Omagh indicates the settlement patterns and ritual practices of early farming peoples in this part of Ulster. Such tombs were typically constructed from locally available stone, often incorporating natural outcrops or boulders from the surrounding landscape.
The site is protected under Historic Environment Division designation 14948, recognising its archaeological and cultural significance. Like other portal tombs across the island of Ireland, Druids' Altar represents a substantial investment of labour and resources by neolithic communities, suggesting social organisation, shared belief systems and enduring territorial attachment to the land.
Druids' altar. portal tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 14948. View the official record →
Druids' Altar is a portal tomb situated near Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 14948.
Druids' altar. 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.
Druids' altar. 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 14948.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Dunmisk fort. enclosure, monastic settlement, church & graveyard (site of) (0.7 km), Multiperiod burial mound - court tomb, 4 neolithic pit burials, 8 bronze age burials & rath (2.2 km), Horned cairn. court tomb (4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Druids' altar. 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.
Druids' altar. portal tomb stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.