A dramatic portal tomb, the oldest dated megalithic monument in Ireland, standing alone on the Burren's bare limestone plateau.
Poulnabrone is a portal tomb: two tall portal stones capped by a massive sloping capstone, with a low mound of rocks around the base. It is the oldest dated megalithic monument in Ireland and the second most visited site in the Burren after the Cliffs of Moher.
Excavation in the 1980s revealed the remains of 33 people, radiocarbon dated to a 600-year span between 5,200 and 5,800 years ago. Finds included a polished stone axe, arrowheads, beads and a decorated pendant, many of them displayed at Clare Museum in Ennis.
The tomb stands on glacio-karst limestone pavement, its blocks (clints) split by rainwater-worn fissures (grikes) formed after the last ice sheets melted nearly 16,000 years ago.
The large boulder beside the path down to the dolmen is a glacial erratic, ripped up and carried here by the ice sheets and left behind as they melted.
The path from the car park is rough gravel and uneven, only partially accessible for wheelchair users, so take care on the slope. The monument is not suitable for dogs.
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