About
Three kilometres east of Carlow town on the Hacketstown Road stands one of the most impressive megalithic monuments in Ireland. Classified by archaeologists as a portal tomb, Brownshill Dolmen features a massive granite capstone measuring roughly 4.7 by 6.1 by 2 metres and believed to weigh over a hundred tonnes, reputedly the largest of its kind in Europe, resting on two portal stones, a door stone and a flat slab. Built between 4,900 and 5,500 years ago, it has never been excavated and its purpose is unknown, though it is widely thought to have served as a ceremonial site, possibly for cremation or burial; finds at similar tombs include pottery, flint tools, bone pins, beads and human remains. The dolmen is a national monument in OPW's care, which laid a new fenced path with seating and signage in 2022: an easy, flat walk of a few minutes along the field edge from the small car park, with a bench beside the stones. It is free, unstaffed and quiet.
Open in daylightFrom OPW Heritage Ireland's published times
- Open any reasonable time in daylight
Opening times may change at short notice.
An unguided open-air monument with no published hours, no staff and no facilities. OPW warns that a level of care and caution should be kept throughout a visit to its unguided sites.
OPW's 2022 works added a fenced path, seating and signage, making the site accessible for all; marker stones line the path and there is one bench by the dolmen.
Photo: The huge granite capstone of Brownshill Dolmen resting on its portal stones and door stone in a grassy field. Digital Eye, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Digital_Eye%E2%80%932015%E2%80%93Brownshill_Dolmen.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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