Irelands largest and most impressive wedge tomb.
Labbacallee, a phonetically translated name from the gaelic 'Leaba Callaigh' (The Hag or Wise Woman's Bed), is the largest wedge type gallery tomb in Ireland, exceeding some of the smaller passage type tombs in size and appearance. It is now located in a small roadside grove just a few miles north west of Fermoy in Co. Cork and signposted from the road out of town towards Macroom. One full half of its large kerbed cairn remains in place around its base, of the other half nothing now can be seen. Like many tombs, it was incorporated into field wall system as a handy stop-gap.
The stones that make up the main gallery are truly massive, its links to the more common wedge tombs seem quite tenuous and indeed
Anthony Weir has described it as almost being a seperate, foreign intrusion bearing more similarities with French counterparts than Irish.
Inside, the large chamber is neat and remarkably intact given the sheer weight of the roofstones. The rear of the chamber is now supported by a stack of stones, just in case.
During excavations in the 1930's, workmen discovered the remains of a woman inhumed in the chamber, her head buried seperately in a lower layer. Among other burials were a later infant burial, a common practice over the ages was to bury infants un-initiated into the cult or religion by baptism in and around sacred pagan burial places.