Overview
The Ardaragh Wedge Tomb is a Bronze Age burial monument tucked immediately inside a field boundary at Ardaragh West, on the eastern end of Bere Island off the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. It sits close to the lane that runs from the old British naval rifle range down to the hamlet of Rerrin. Be honest with your expectations: the tomb has collapsed, so what survives is a low scatter of stone rather than a standing chamber, and it stands on private farmland, so you view it from the road. It is worth a two-minute stop as part of a wider loop of the island, not a destination in its own right.
History
Wedge tombs are the most common type of megalithic monument in Ireland, built at the tail end of the megalithic tradition around the start of the Bronze Age. Locally this one carried the romantic name the ‘Druids’ Altar’ – the kind of folklore that gathered around old stones long before archaeologists reclassified them as communal graves.
It does not stand alone. The eastern end of Bere Island is thick with prehistory: a circular enclosure and a standing stone at Greenane, a hut site at Ardaragh West, a ringfort, and a promontory fort. Taken together they map out a landscape that was lived in and worked for thousands of years.
Getting to Bere Island
Bere Island is reached by car ferry from the mainland, and two operators run passenger and vehicle services:
- Bere Island Ferries sails from Castletownbere to Oileán na gCaorach at the west end of the island, about a 15-minute crossing.
- Murphy’s Bere Island Ferry runs from the Pontoon near Castletownbere to Rerrin Village at the east end, about 30 minutes.
Timetables shift with the season and around public holidays, so check the operators’ sites before you set off.
Making a trip of it
Landing at the eastern pontoon puts you within walking distance of the tomb and the rest of the island’s sights. The Rerrin Loop (about 6 km) starts at the pontoon and passes the wedge tomb, Martello towers and local harbours; the Main Beara Way (about 19 km) runs the full length of the island, linking both ferry terminals.
Other stops on the way:
- Gallán Standing Stone – a 3-metre monolith at Greenane.
- Martello towers at Ardagh and Cloughland, survivors of the early 19th-century coastal defences.
- Lonehort Battery – a 19th-century gun battery ringed by a moat at the eastern end.
- Bere Island Heritage Centre, in the restored Ballinakilla Old School, which puts the island’s archaeology and military history in context – the sensible first stop before you head out to the monuments.
- Ardnakinna Lighthouse at the western tip.
Combine the tomb with the Rerrin Loop and you see it in its landscape rather than as an isolated pile of stones – and there is a café or two in Rerrin for coffee before or after.