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Giant's Grave is a prehistoric megalithic monument comprising a cairn with an orthostat, possibly the remains of a court tomb. Located in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, at grid reference H3108043350, the site sits upon bedrock of the Kilskeery Group, a Chesterian formation of sandstone, mudstone, siltstone and conglomerate that would have provided natural building stone for its construction.
Court tombs, characteristic of Neolithic Ireland, typically featured a central open court leading to one or more burial chambers. Though now reduced to its orthostat and cairn material, Giant's Grave likely functioned as a communal burial monument serving a prehistoric farming community. The local stone resources would have made such construction feasible, with the mixed geology of the Fermanagh bedrock offering suitable material for the tomb's structural elements.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference number 10246, reflecting its significance as evidence of early settlement, mortuary practice and communal organisation in prehistoric Ulster. The survival of its orthostat demonstrates the enduring durability of megalithic construction, though the extent of the original cairn and chambered structure remains uncertain without archaeological investigation.
Giant's grave. cairn & orthostat, possibly court tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 10246. View the official record →
Giant's Grave is a prehistoric megalithic monument comprising a cairn with an orthostat, possibly the remains of a court tomb. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 10246.
Giant's grave. cairn & orthostat, possibly court tomb dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a megalithic tombpossible. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Giant's grave. cairn & orthostat, possibly 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 10246.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Derrybrusk church. medieval church & graveyard (5.4 km), Two burnt mounds/ cooking places (fulachta fiadh) (6 km), Barrow cemetery & burnt mounds (fulachta fiadh) (7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Giant's grave. cairn & orthostat, possibly 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.
Giant's grave. cairn & orthostat, possibly court tomb stands on Kilskeery Group, bedrock that formed in the Chesterian. The rock here is sandstone, mudstone, siltstone and conglomerate.