Top of the World
The mysterious and majestic Brownshill Dolmen has captured the imagination of visitors for centuries. Located 3km east of Carlow town, the capstone of this impressive megalithic tomb is believed to be the largest in Europe. Its date of construction has been estimated at between 4,900 and 5,500 years ago and experts believe religious rites were performed at the site. It may also have served as a form of border marker, but whatever its original purpose, today the Brownshill Dolmen represents a tangible link between the present and the past. The megalithic portal tomb comprises two portal stones and a gate stone supporting a massive, 150-ton granite capstone that slopes down to the ground. There are tens of thousands of these ancient stone monuments all over the world, but no one knows exactly who built them or why. The current archaeological consensus is that they were portal monuments leading to burial chambers, but after thousands of years of erosion, looting and natural movements, only the stone doorways remain.
