Rockmarshall Court Tomb is a

court cairn The court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chambered cairn or gallery grave. During the period, 3900–3500 BCE, more than 390 court cairns were built in Ireland and over 100 in southwest Scotland. The Neolithic (New Stone ...

and National Monument located on the

Cooley Peninsula The Cooley Peninsula (, older ''Cúalṅge'') is a hilly peninsula in the north of County Louth on the east coast of Ireland; the peninsula includes the small town of Carlingford, the port of Greenore and the village of Omeath. Geography The ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Location

Rockmarshall Court Tomb is located immediately southwest of Rockmarshall House, on the southern slopes of Annaloughan Mountain.

History

Rockmarshall has been settled since the Mesolithic (c. 5700 BC on); excavation of a midden shows late tools, oysters and periwinkles. The Carlingford Lough/

region was low in Mesolithic activity in comparison to

Strangford Lough Strangford Lough (from Old Norse ''Strangr Fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet"PlaceNames N ...

and

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to ...

, due to the low quality

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

. Carlingford and the Mournes could also have provided berries and nuts in season, and wild boar. A local population survived at Rockmarshall into the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

, and the court cairn was built c. 3500 BC.

Description

The gallery is long and at the northeast end is a broad court, its arc formed by six stones. The stones used are very low and some have fallen over. There are five chambers with each chamber narrower than the first. There is a lot of cairn material scattered around the gallery.

References

{{Reflist National Monuments in County Louth Archaeological sites in County Louth Tombs in the Republic of Ireland