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Giant's Grave is a wedge tomb located near Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. This megalithic monument belongs to the Neolithic and Bronze Age tradition of communal burial structures that characterise the Irish landscape. The tomb is constructed from stone and follows the distinctive wedge-shaped plan typical of its class, where the structure narrows progressively from entrance to rear chamber. The site sits upon Palaeogene extrusive rocks—ancient mafic lava and tuff deposits formed during volcanic activity millions of years before human settlement in Ireland.
The monument lies at grid reference D3235007980 and is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 2404, recognising its archaeological and cultural significance. Wedge tombs represent a later development in megalithic burial practice, appearing primarily during the Bronze Age, though some may have originated in the final Neolithic period. Their distribution across the north of Ireland reflects patterns of settlement and land use in prehistoric times.
This class of monument typically served multiple burials over an extended period, functioning as a communal sepulchre for local populations. The underlying geology of mafic volcanic rock would have shaped both the quarrying of stone for construction and the character of the surrounding landscape that early communities inhabited and exploited for subsistence.
Giant's grave. wedge tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2404. View the official record →
Giant's Grave is a wedge tomb located near Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2404.
Giant's grave. wedge tomb dates from the neo/b.a. period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Giant's grave. wedge 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 2404.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Mounds (2) and neolithic & bronze age pottery and flint scatters (5.8 km), Findspot of flint and pottery (6.1 km), Motte (6.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Giant's grave. wedge 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. wedge tomb stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.