Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

Court tombs are typically composed of a stone-built burial chamber, paired with an open courtyard (hence the name). Built during the 4 th millennium BC, around 390 examples survive in Ireland [ Wiki ]. The example at Larahirrel, outside the village of Bocan, is pretty well preserved with an identifiable court and chamber stones surviving in situ , even if most of the cairn material is long gone. The surviving upright stones are spectacular and the windswept hilltop it sits on gives impressive views across the countryside in all directions. I didn’t visit during the nicest weather, but you can still get a sense of the great views across the landscape as well as the beauty of the site itself. I’ve compiled the tour into a consecutive YouTube playlist [ here ], or you can access each video clip individually here: Part I: Outside, to the SW [1:16] Part II: Outside, to the NW, by the court [1:23] Part III: Inside the court [1:23] Part IV: Outside, to the N [1:03] Part V: In...

The British Museum holds 70 items identified as coming from Co Meath, along with one labelled as coming from either Armagh or Meath. The majority of these (30) are assigned to the Early Medieval period, followed by the Bronze Age (12). The most common object type represented are bracelets (10), followed by socketed axes (7). The two material types represented in this assemblage are: Metal (54), Stone (11), Bone (4), and Glass (2). < Table of Contents Neolithic/Bronze Age: Stone items Meath adze 20050501.329 Polished stone adze with broken butt, side slightly damaged/indented. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1570407&partId=1 Meath axe 20050501.330 Polished stone axe with taperring rounded butt, slightly damaged; blade chipped. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1570383&partId=1 Meath axe 20050501.332 Polished ston...