 The tomb in 2006 | |
  Location in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom | |
| Location | Northern Ireland,United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 54°26′51″N7°9′34″W / 54.44750°N 7.15944°W /54.44750; -7.15944 |
| OS grid reference | H 546 558 |
| Type | Passage tomb |
| Height | c. 2.13 meters |
| History | |
| Material | Sandstone |
| Founded | c. 3000 BC |
| Periods | Neolithic |
Knockmany passage tomb, orAnya's Cove, is an ancient burial monument on the summit of Knockmany Hill, near the village ofAugher inCounty Tyrone,Northern Ireland. It is the remains of aNeolithicpassage tomb and its stones are decorated with raremegalithic art. They are protected by a concrete chamber and mound, built in 1959 by the Department of the Environment, roughly resembling the mound that would have originally covered it. The stones can be viewed through the entrance gates.[1][2] It is amonument in state care.[3]
The monument is apassage tomb built during theNeolithic, around 3000 BC. The chamber was originally covered with a stone cairn and earth. The 13 sandstoneorthostats remain:[4] these are of height 3–7 feet (0.91–2.13 m), and three of them show carved decorations including concentric circles, spirals and zigzags. They are similar to the decorated stones of the tombs atLoughcrew andNewgrange.[1][2][5]
Knockmany comes from Irish Cnoc mBáine 'Báine's hill'. Báine (meaning "whiteness") was a supernatural being, probably a goddess, who became conflated with the more famous goddessÁine.[6] According to legend, Queen Báine was wife of the 1st-century KingTúathal Techtmar and was buried here, in the tomb of the earlier Queen Áine.[2]
In Irish folklore, the location was the home ofFionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) and his wife Oonagh.[2]
