Ballykeel Dolmen, Armagh

Ballykeel

Portal Tomb

Situated in Ballykeel, Co Armagh is this wonderful example of a tripod dolmen. This capstone is the only one in Northern Ireland to be re-erected, both it and the door-slab were replaced during excavations in 1965. The capstone which is some 3 metres long has a notable notch in it, a feature of many other megaliths in Northern Ireland, see Legananny, the two large portal stones stand at around 2 metres high.

The dolmen stands at the southern end of a 90 ft long cairn. There are two lines of stones running parallel with the cairn, at the Northern end of the cairn there was a burial cist which sadly is no longer visible.

Ballykeel Portal Tomb Situated in Ballykeel, Co Armagh is this wonderful example of a tripod dolmen. This capstone is the only one in Northern Ireland to be re-erected, both it and the door-slab were replaced during excavations in 1965. The capstone which is some 3 metres long has a notable notch in it, a feature of many other megaliths in Northern Ireland, see Legananny, the two large portal stones stand at around 2 metres high. The dolmen stands at the southern end of a 90 ft long cairn. There are two lines of stones running parallel with the cairn, at the Northern end of the cairn there was a burial cist which sadly is no longer visible.
The long cairn	Portals and door stone

	Situated: From Dundalk take the R177 North heading for Forkhill. Head north for Camlough on the B134. after 3.5 kilometres take a left for Ballykeel dolmen, after 2 kilometres take a right turn the dolmen is about 100 metres up this road. Discovery Map 36: H 9945 2134. Last visit Aug 2007. Longitude: 6° 28' 42" W Latitude: 54° 7' 53" N Google Map Photos: Jim Dempsey