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Ballymena Megalithic Tomb is a prehistoric burial monument located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The tomb sits upon bedrock composed of mafic lava and tuff of Palaeogene age, volcanic materials that erupted and accumulated millions of years before human settlement in Ireland. This geological foundation of ancient igneous rock contrasts sharply with the deliberately chosen stone used to construct the megalithic chamber itself, which would have been selected and positioned by Neolithic communities during the fourth and third millennia before the present.
The monument represents one of Ireland's most enduring architectural achievements, built to serve as a communal burial place and ceremonial centre for local populations. Such tombs typically consisted of orthostatic stone chambers covered by cairn mounds, though individual sites vary considerably in their preserved state and scale. The exact original form of this particular example cannot be determined without archaeological investigation.
The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency under reference 2585, reflecting its importance as a surviving element of the island's Neolithic heritage. Despite the passage of five thousand years, megalithic tombs remain among the most impressive material witnesses to prehistoric Irish society and deserve continued conservation.
Megalithic tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2585. View the official record →
Ballymena Megalithic Tomb is a prehistoric burial monument located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2585.
Megalithic tomb dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Megalithic 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 2585.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Mcquillan's castle. motte and bailey (1.8 km), Rath (1.9 km), Motte (2.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Megalithic 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.
Megalithic tomb stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.