 Dowth
Created by: * Flidais Niafer, 2007-03-21 13:23:20
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his site is known locally as "the Fairy Mound of Darkness". It is about the same size as Newgrange and Knowth, built in the same period, over 5,000 years ago. Dowth has suffered much more than the rest of Bru na Boinne and the damage is painfully plain to see. The Annals of Tigernach state that Dowth was plundered and burned in 1059. the Annals of the Four Masters tell of three great battles at Dowth and another burning in 1170. The worst of it, though, was when the mound was subjected to a very unprofessional excavation in the mid-1800s. Two passage tombs were uncovered in the process but much of the original site was badly marred as the roof of one of the chambers was deliberately blasted away. Click
here to read the
newspaper article from the July 5, 1856 "Drogheda Conservative" which comments on this.
As if to add insult to injury, later on someone actually built a house right on top of the mound.
Dowth is the least visited of the three main sites in the Bru na Boinne complex. Its two passage tombs, currently closed to the public, are less spectacular, having lower roofs and shorter passageways compared to Newgrange or Knowth. Both passage tombs are on the west side of the mound and they are called Dowth North and Dowth South. Dowth North is 14 meters long, with a cruciform chamber and annex in a recess to the right. The corbelled chamber is 3 meters high. The passage of Dowth South is a short 3.5. meters long with a simple circular room and one recess to the right. The original roof collapsed and was replaced with cement. The passageway of Dowth South lines up, as Newgrange does, to winter solstice sunset - but to sunset, not sunrise.
For a look inside Dowth, click
here.
In the first century BC, Dowth was used as the base for a hill fort. A 21.3 meter (70 ft) souterrain was built then, crossing the main entrance and leading to a series of chambers with a beehive-like chamber at either end.
This is how the entrance to Dowth South looks today. The kerbstone in front of the entrance has cup markings and is inscribed with spirals. For more of Jim Dempsey's photos, click
HERE.
Dowth North (- posts)
