Brownshill Dolmen (in Irish Dolmain Chnoc an Bhrúnaigh) is a megalithic portal tomb located just outside Carlow, in Co. Carlow. It was built as a burial place by Ireland's first farmers some time between 4000 and 3000 BC.
Just in case you -like me- are "not exactly" an expert in megalithic monuments, let me tell you what I've recently learnt:
A portal tomb is so called because the entrance to the burial chamber is marked by a pair of vertical megaliths and covered with a single massive capstone which rests on the portals and slopes downwards, towards the rears. There are quite a few portal dolmens in Ireland (I did not know that either! I am a bit embarrassed, to be honest...) but this one is special - here is the WOOOW FACT!:
WOOOW FACT: THE CAPSTONE AT BROWNHILL WEIGHS ABOUT 150 TONS AND IS BELIEVED TO BE THE HEAVIEST OF ITS KIND IN EUROPE!
Being there, I admit that we were really impressed by how large the capstone is
Brownshill - also called Kernanstown - is not difficult to find, and there is a car park only a few hundred metres away from the dolmen. From there, there is a well indicated path to get to the site.
I found the kids were genuinely interested in the dolmen and made quite a few questions about it, like
"how many people are buried here?" or
"were they buried with their most precious possessions, like the Egyptians?" (one of them has been studying ancient Egypt at school these last weeks),
"what is the meaning of the portal? why that shape?"
"did they believe in any God back then?"
"how do people know how old this is?"
"if this has not been excavated, how do we know what's underneath?"
... and many more. Most of them we did not know how to answer, so we had to read a little bit when we got home and re-take the conversation again in the evening, tablet-in-hand (be prepared if you plan to visit Brownshill with the family or they'll catch you off-guard)
"how many people are buried here?" or
"were they buried with their most precious possessions, like the Egyptians?" (one of them has been studying ancient Egypt at school these last weeks),
"what is the meaning of the portal? why that shape?"
"did they believe in any God back then?"
"how do people know how old this is?"
"if this has not been excavated, how do we know what's underneath?"
... and many more. Most of them we did not know how to answer, so we had to read a little bit when we got home and re-take the conversation again in the evening, tablet-in-hand (be prepared if you plan to visit Brownshill with the family or they'll catch you off-guard)
The visit is highly recommended, not only because the site is worth it, but because it made the children think and question facts about the past, much more than any book or TV program would. That's what this is all about, isn't it?
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