Home Newgrange Knowth Dowth Hill of Tara Fourknocks Loughcrew Labyrinths Art Works Articles Images Contact

Townleyhall megalithic passage tomb

Townleyhall megalithic passage tomb was built by Neolithic farmers around 3000 BC. It is part of the Boyne Valley group of passage tombs that includes the much larger mounds at Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth. The chamber at Townleyhall is a simple rectangle at the end of a short passage.

Open entrance passage of Townleyhall passage tomb, with dry-stone walling and gravel floor leading to upright chamber orthostats in a grassy mound. Townleyhall megalithic passage tomb.

Excavations at Townleyhall by George Eogan began in 1960. Townleyhall was the first of the Boyne Valley passage tomb mounds to be excavated in modern times.

Excavated Townleyhall chamber with upright orthostats, dry-stone walling and gravel floor set into the grassy mound, concrete markers showing missing passage stones. Concrete markers show where the missing passage orthostats once stood.

Excavations at Townleyhall showed that people had lived there before the tomb was constructed. The cremated remains found inside the tomb may have been of the people who had lived on the site.

Stone stile with steps beside a green fence, looking through to the grass-covered Townleyhall passage tomb mound in the field beyond. Townleyhall passage tomb viewed from the roadside.

The Townleyhall passage tomb is located in a field just off the N51 Drogheda / Slane road. The mound is visible from the road and access is by the entrance pictured above. Coming from the Drogheda direction, it is on the right-hand side of the road after the main Townleyhall entrance.

Map of the Boyne Valley between Slane and Drogheda marking Townleyhall passage tomb on the N51, with Dowth and Newgrange labelled nearby. Townleyhall map.
Satellite view of the circular Townleyhall passage tomb mound in a green field beside the N51 Slane Road. Townleyhall satellite image.

Ordnance Survey map 35. National Grid Reference O 023 758. GPS position N53.72108 W6.451071.

The name Townleyhall is from the surname Townley. The ancient name for the burial mound has been lost over time. The mounds at Newgrange and Dowth are visible from Townleyhall. As the crow flies, Dowth is 2 km (1.2 miles) from Townleyhall and Newgrange is over 3 km (about 2 miles) away.

Distant view of the Dowth mound across hedgerows and fields, with a small building below the slope, seen from Townleyhall. View of Dowth from Townleyhall.
Distant view of the Newgrange mound among trees and green fields in the Boyne Valley, seen from Townleyhall. View of Newgrange from Townleyhall.

More on the summer solstice at Townleyhall.

Back to top