The Clontygora Court Tomb dates from approx c.3500 b.c and is one of the finest burial chambers in Northern Ireland. It is locally known as the “King’s Ring”. It is Y shaped with a large burial gallery at the centre and it’s roof slabs and the large capstone that cover the first 3 chambers are supported by enormous split granite boulders. The area has been farmed for at least 6000 years and is known as The Ring of Gullion which has 20 impressive megalithic tombs, burial chambers and cairns. In the 18th century stones were removed from the tomb to build the first lock on the Newry Canal, in the nineteenth century to construct the quay at Narrow Water, and in more recent years to build field boundary walls. During excavation of the tomb in 1937 small fragments of human bone were recovered from the burial chambers, with Neolithic pottery and flint, including three fine leaf-shaped arrowheads. Clontygora means “meadow of the goats” in Irish.
