Legananny Dolmen is one of Ireland's most frequently
illustrated and photographed dolmens nestling between a farmer's
stone wall and a small back road. The views from the cache location
and dolmen are spectacular on a good day, overlooking the Mourne
mountains.
Like Poulnabrone in the Burren, Legananny is a neolithic
portal tomb, built between 4000 and 4500 years ago. The word
'dolmen' was used by early studies of antiquities and comes from
the Breton word 'tolmen' which means 'stone table'. These monuments
also gave rise to legends after which they have been named. The
Giant's Grave or the Druid's altar are common local names for such
features. 'Diarmud's and Grainne's bed' reflects another story from
the Tain. Originally this would have had a mound covering it but
most of this has been removed although there are traces on all
sides of the tomb itself except for the lane on the left. In this
case the name Legananny comes from Liagán Áine or 'Pillar of Enya'.
She was the mythical goddess loved by the equally mythical Finn
McCool.
This granite dolmen is located on the southern fringe of the
Slieve Croob mountain range near the village of Leitrim. The
structure consists of two portal stones to the south, one 5ft 9ins
high, the other 6ft and a further single support at the north end,
4ft high. The large capstone, almost 2 ft in diameter, gives the
structure its distinct tripod appearance.
Dating from the megalithic period, it is the portal grave of a
chieftain. The heavy stones would have been dragged some distance
before being set in place. The three supporting stones are
unusually long and there are slight traces of a cairn which must
have been far more extensive. Court cairns were probably temples of
a kind, where farming communities paid respect to departed
ancestors and invoked magical help to ensure good harvests.
There is a layby with parking space provided at N54 19.323 W006
01.176 Please do NOT attempt to drive the short distance to
the cache as it is only a pedestrian track and driving is
prohibited.
THE CACHE is a medium sized tablock box, camouflaged and
with geocaching sticker. When placed it contained a logbook,
pencil, stashnote, FTF badge and other small swaps. It is not
necessary to move or displace any stones in order to retrieve the
cache. Please hide again carefully.