Neolithic Bremore Tombs once more under threat

Drogheda Port Company has re-submitted a major plan to extend the port’s boundary and develop a €300 million deepwater facility at Bremore in north Dublin… more here.

Bremore Passage tomb cemetery is located on a rocky promontory with extensive views of the coastline, as far north as the Mourne Mountains.

In the record of monuments it says that Bremore complex consists of five mounds, the largest measuring c. 30m in diameter and c. 3.3m in height. This is surrounded by four other mounds (often referred to elsewhere as satellite tombs) surviving from 9m-15m in diameter and from 0.5m-0.75m in height. This layout is typical of other passage tomb cemeteries.

Bremore is listed on the Record of Monuments and Places as an archaeological complex consisting of the following;

DU-002-001-01 Passage Tomb;  DU-002-001-02 Passage Tomb; DU-002-001-03 Passage Tomb; DU-002-001-04 Passage Tomb; DU-002-001-05 Passage Tomb; DU-002-001-06 Fulacht Fiadh;

The Bremore tombs belong to a wider group known as the Bremore/Gormanston group that extends long the coast on either side of the mouth of the river Delvin. This is in itself significant as it indicates they were a ‘landing point’ and the start of the western expansion of tombs inland to Fourknocks. Passage tombs are thought to have originated from Iberia and the Bremore tombs would therefore represent an early stage in the developmental sequence-they are thus seen as the PRECURSERS of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.

The Bremore tombs, as monuments of national importance, are protected by a Preservation Order (No. 22/76) which means no works can take place on or in the vicinity of the monuments without the consent of the Minister of the Environment.

They are also listed on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS 003).

Thus Bremore passage tomb cemetery is subject to several levels of protection. As outlined by the National Monuments Service, the OPW is responsible for signage and care of the monuments. Also the passage tombs are on private land, in the care of the OPW and the National Monument Service.

Professor Eogan gives an account of the importance of the Bremore tombs in relation to the other great tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth in the Boyne valley and says that  “There’s enough evidence to say that it’s (Bremore complex) contemporary with the Boyne valley.”

Reference: Bremore Heritage Group NO PORT HERE on Facebook.