This slightly, but well, restored portal tomb is set in the most idyllic wooded glade. There is a fallen upright just outside making it similar in design to the dolmen at Kiltiernan and is probably of an early form that is half court tomb, half dolmen(?) as there appears to be traces of a small courtyard to the front.

Being situated in a dip, sheltered by trees but in the open, this dolmen can be seen from above as you approach via one of the back gardens which makes it very unusual.

It can be accessed from one of two ways, either via Dolmen House (although this path appears not to have been used for some time) or from the lane to the rear.

With the sun shining this is a beautiful site. This site is also known as Cabinteely Dolmen or Brennanstown Dolmen.

The location of this site never fails to amaze me, my companians were suitable impressed too. I got some great pictures on this trip. We did knock and ring and shout at the house but got no answer and so wondered down to see this great dolmen. I was surprised to find that I had forgotten how big the capstone actually is.

Great. For once the residents were in and so I was able to ask permission to go down this time, which was gladly given. There was a wry smile on his face as he said, "Sure. If you're willing to brave the wet." How right he was! My feet were soaked by the time we got to the bottom of the valley. At least it had stopped raining by now.

On this visit the moon was at the head of the valley looking down on us. The sun was out and Julian loved the place. Even I take this marvel for granted a little now and to see a fresh reaction to it always reminds me how good it really is.

After knocking on the door of Dolmen House and asking a bewildered Australian if we could go down to the tomb, we ended up sheltering for a while in the wonderfully accommodating chamber.

After struggling down the overgrown path and then through the brambles and nettles we reached the clearing at the bottom of this small valley. I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for this magnificent tomb, because it is very overgrown at the moment: I've never seen it this bad before. This really needs sorting out, because a rowan tree has taken root in the small courtyard to the rear of the chamber and brambles are slowly consuming the monument. As can be seen at Ballyglass (County Mayo) and others once this happens there is little hope of seeing the monument in all its glory again.

I shall contact Duchas to tell them of the tombs current situation and try to get them to sort it out before too much damage is done. If they had sufficient funding, so that regular checks could be carried out of these monuments Ireland's Heritage (something that the country is supposed to be proud of) would be a lot safer. As it stands within a few years a great deal of it will be lost, just for the sake of money, which is quite ironic when the country relies on its Heritage to generate money.

Not wanting to travel far this weekend gave me the perfect excuse to try out the alternative 'back way' to Glendruid that I'd recently been supplied with (see misc entry).

It was quite marvellous to be here without bothering the people in the house above and the walk to the site is quite amazing too. As the person that very kindly supplied the route says, it's incredible that this sort of wild walk exists on the edge of the city.

Standing next to this tomb, in the snow, on Christmas Day was a special treat for me. The photos don't really demonstrate how wonderful the scene was, but those of you that know the site will be able to imagine.

The Alternative Route:

From Brennanstown Road turn into Brennanstown Vale. Follow the road around until you reach a turning circle in the road. Park around here. Just past the turning place there is a small trackway that leads to a gate. Walk down here and turn left after the gate - this is a disused railway line. Walk along the well-worn footpath until it crosses the river. Make you way down to the river bank (either climb down the 2m tall wall or carry on for a while along the railway track until you find a place where you feel comfortable making the descent). Carry on in the same direction for a few hundred metres. Eventually you will see that the trees on both banks open up and the capstone of the tomb should be visible on the far bank. Ford the river with great care here and you are at the tomb.

Please be very, very careful if following these directions. This is still not an easy route, but it is nicer than scrambling down the steep bank from the houses above.