Samhain (8 November) sunrise, Cairn L, Loughcrew 1996.

Loughcrew Megalithic art The Cailleach Cairn A Cairn B Cairn C Cairn D Cairn E Cairn F Cairn G Cairn H Cairn I Cairn J Cairn K Cairn M Cairn N Cairn O Cairn P Cairn Q Cairn R Cairn R1 Cairn S Cairn T Cairn U Cairn V Cairn W Cairn X1 Cairn Y

Cairn L, Loughcrew A 20 minute walk west (sign posted) across the fields from the Loughcrew carpark brings you to Cairnbane West. On the way, just inside the gate, you will pass a recently erected decorated stone slab and two destroyed mounds. Cairn L, sits perched on the eastern slope of the hill, the second largest mound of the fifteen sites on this summit. The gate is locked, and at the time of writing, the key is not available to the public. Cairn L is one of the more unusual chambered cairns in Ireland, having a complex plan and internal standing stone. When Conwell arrived in 1863 the roof had collapsed and the chamber was full of rubble. He estimated that the capstone probably stood between 16' and 18' above the floor of the chamber. He made a large number of finds in Cairn L, including two large stone spheres and several smaller chalk balls under the large basin in the left recess. These can be seen in the neolithic exhibit in the National Museum of Ireland. The chamber has a 'stalled' plan (see below) with seven recesses, three at each side and one at the end. The right-back recess, as is usual with these monuments, is much larger than the others. It contains a massive stone basin and one of the finest engravings at Loughcrew (pictures below). The monument was reconstructed in the 1940's by the Office of Public Works; the chamber corbells were covered by a concrete dome and the was passage re-roofed. The outer half of the passage has been replaced by modern stonework.

Plan of Cairn L. Adapted from Jean McMann: Loughcrew, the Cairns.