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Loughmoney dolmen is a portal tomb of Neolithic date situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. Portal tombs, among the earliest megalithic monuments in Ireland and Britain, typically comprise two tall upright stones (portals) flanking an entrance, with capstones spanning the chamber and entrance. Built between approximately 3500 and 3000 BCE, these structures served as communal burial places for farming communities establishing themselves in the landscape during the early Neolithic period.
The monument rests upon bedrock of the Hawick Group, a wacke formation dating to the Wenlock epoch of the Palaeozoic era. This locally available stone would have influenced both the quarrying of materials and the structural integrity of the tomb. The site's geology reflects the ancient glaciated landscape of Down, where Neolithic communities selected prominent locations for their ritual and burial purposes.
Loughmoney dolmen is designated as a scheduled monument under the Historic Environment Division's protective framework. As one of Northern Ireland's surviving portal tombs, it represents an important survivng example of early Neolithic funerary architecture, offering insight into the ritual practices, social organisation and monumental ambitions of the region's earliest farming societies.
Loughmoney dolmen. portal tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7572. View the official record →
Loughmoney dolmen is a portal tomb of Neolithic date situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7572.
Loughmoney dolmen. 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.
Loughmoney dolmen. 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 7572.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cappel-na-coole. medieval church (in ruins) (4.6 km), St. mary's. church with cross slab, carved virgin & child, font & 2 bullauns (7.1 km), Motte & bailey (7.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Loughmoney dolmen. 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.
Loughmoney dolmen. portal tomb stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.