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Vicar's Cairn is a passage tomb of Neolithic date located in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The monument belongs to the megalithic tradition of communal burial structures that characterised the period from around 4000 to 3000 BC across the Irish island. Known locally by several variant names including Vicar's Carn, the Monk's Cairn and Carnavanaghan, this passage tomb would originally have comprised a stone-built burial chamber accessed via a narrow passageway, all covered by a substantial mound of stones and earth.
The site sits on bedrock of the Gala Group, formed during the Telychian period and composed of wacke stone. This durable metamorphic geology would have provided suitable natural stone for the tomb's construction. Passage tombs of this type typically contained multiple burials and associated ritual deposits, representing important focal points for Neolithic communities across several generations.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland under reference number 5639. Such protection recognises the archaeological significance of the site as evidence for early farming societies and their spiritual and social organisation in the Neolithic period.
Vicar's cairn, vicer's carn, the monk's cairn, carnavanaghan, cairnamnhanaghan, carn-na-vanachan, vicar's carn. passage tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5639. View the official record →
Vicar's Cairn is a passage tomb of Neolithic date located in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5639.
Vicar's cairn, vicer's carn, the monk's cairn, carnavanaghan, cairnamnhanaghan, carn-na-vanachan, vicar's carn. passage 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.
Vicar's cairn, vicer's carn, the monk's cairn, carnavanaghan, cairnamnhanaghan, carn-na-vanachan, vicar's carn. passage 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 5639.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The danes cast, the danes cast (north). linear earthwork (2.4 km), The danes cast, the danes cast (north). linear earthwork (3.1 km), The relig, relig-an-chaisill. cashel & souterrain, reused as killeen (children's graveyard) (3.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Vicar's cairn, vicer's carn, the monk's cairn, carnavanaghan, cairnamnhanaghan, carn-na-vanachan, vicar's carn. passage 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.
Vicar's cairn, vicer's carn, the monk's cairn, carnavanaghan, cairnamnhanaghan, carn-na-vanachan, vicar's carn. passage tomb stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.