Listoghil

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Listoghil is the large central monument in the Carrowmore group of prehistoric tombs in County Sligo in Ireland. It was numbered as Carrowmore 51 by Petrie in 1837 and this name is still sometimes used.

It is surrounded by a ring of chamber tombs (or 'dolmen circles') that dot the eastern end of the Knocknarea Peninsula but is much different from these other structures. It was partly excavated between 1996 and 1998 after centuries of quarrying had left it unstable. In the early nineteenth century Reverend Henry described the monument as '50 feet high and 150 feet in diameter'. Recent research indicates that it may have been up to 15 feet high; Queen Maeves tomb close by, has twice the diameter, and stands at about 10 m.

Listoghil has never been satisfactorily connected with the ancient legends in the way that say, Newgrange has. The diary entries of Elcock from the early 1800's describe the cairn decreasing in size and cratering as workmen removed the stones for 'road metal' and perhaps building field walls. Only when quarrymen uncovered the tomb chamber in the middle of the mound did its destruction end. Antiquarians in the 1900's made references to another cairn nearby at Leacharail, but the site of this has never been located.

By the end of the nineteenth century the tomb had been investigated by antiquarians of the period who recorded finding cremated human bone, charred wood and a stone spearhead. Some materials from this tomb are in the Alnwick Castle collection. After the dig by professor Burenhult in the late 1990's the tomb was restored by the Office of Public Works. The tomb now consists of a 32m diameter cairn covering a rectangular cist supporting a flat slab roof. A kerb of over 100 large stones surrounds the tomb.

A rare example of Irish megalithic art outside of the Boyne valley consisting of concentric circular carvings can be seen on the front side of the roof slab, whilst a symbol described by Julian Cope as 'a strangely distorted tryfuss' was carved on a stone inside.

Listoghil was constructed some time between 3640 and 3380 BC, meaning it was constructed towards the end of megalithic activity at Carrowmore despite its central position.

Inhumations were placed in the tomb from the time it was built but the site was of importance even before this. Evidence of an earlier monument was found by the Swedish archaeologists who excavated Listoghil, consisting of stone packing to the south of the tomb. Extensive burning took place around the site before the tomb was erected.