The beautiful and graceful Proleek Dolmen is located on the grounds of the Ballymascanlon hotel. It dates from between 2500-3000 BC. These structures were given the name ‘dolmen’ in the Victorian era which derives from a Breton word meaning a ‘stone table’. The proper name for these incredible monuments are ‘portal tombs’ as the 2 upright stones (or portals) are believed to be ‘the gateway’ into the burial chamber. Many of these were originally covered by thousands of smaller stones in the shape of a tall pointed cairn but these were usually removed over the years for other purposes. It is common to find cremated bones, grave goods, flints, bone beads and coarse pottery during excavations. The giant roof stone on this example measures 12-feet by 10-feet and is estimated to weight over 30-tonnes. If you look closely at the photo you will see lots of tiny pebbles on the top of capstone as a local legend says..’if you throw a stone up and it stays, you will be married within a year”