The Portal Tomb of Aughnacliff (also known as Aughnacliffe, Aghnacliff, in Irish Achadh na Cloiche) is situated 300 meters northeast of the town’s church on the western side of Lough Gowna, in County Longford, Ireland. It is one of the few megalithic structures (along with Birrinagh and Cleenrah) in this county. It belongs to a small group of portal tombs featuring horizontally placed or stacked capstones. Other structures of this type include Knockeen in County Waterford, Kilmogue in County Kilkenny, and the Kempe Stones in County Down, Northern Ireland. Portal tombs are megalithic structures found across the British Isles, characterized by two equally tall, upright stones with a door stone in between, forming the front of a chamber covered by a partially massive capstone.
This uniquely shaped Neolithic portal tomb (dating from 3000 to 2000 BC) has a short north-south oriented chamber. It is formed by a pair of 1.6-meter-long, 1.2-meter-high, and 60-centimeter-thick stones, on which rests a capstone measuring 1.7 meters in length, 2.2 meters in width, and 1.2 meters in thickness. Additionally, there is a larger capstone approximately 3.2 meters long, 2.3 meters wide, and 1.5 meters thick. The front part of this upper capstone is supported by the only remaining (out of two) portal stone, which is about one meter in length and width and two meters in height. The stones within the chamber are rubble stones. The chamber no longer has a door stone, and the once covering stone or earthen mound has been completely removed.
Approximately 1.2 kilometers away lies the Cleenrah Portal Tomb.
