Tomb L, Carnbane West, Loughcrew Hills, County Meath

An archaeoastronomical assessment by Dr Frank Prendergast, College of Engineering and Built Environment, DIT

The national monument known as Tomb L is situated on the summit of Carnbane West in the Loughcrew Hills. It is one of 15 passage tombs occurring within a broader complex of 32 megalithic monuments comprised of tombs, cairns and unclassified structures. With the exception of the nearby passage tomb in the adjacent townland of Thomastown, all are clustered on three hilltops including Carbane East and Patrickstown.


Tomb L is the dominant and most easterly tomb of the cluster on Carnbane West. It has a kerbed cairn with an eight-celled burial chamber and a corbelled roof. Two of the cells (or recesses) contain a basin stone but the right-hand of the pair is more emphasised in terms of the size of the basin stone and the embellishment on its back stone (C16). Within the cairn, 16 of the structural orthostats, two of the corbels, and two of the non-structural stones have passage tomb art incised on their obverse faces. Two of these also have hidden decoration. The chamber is accessed by an easterly-facing passage.

Download Tomb L, Carnbane West, Loughcrew Hills – an archaeoastronomical assessment

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