The megalithic tomb, known locally as Altoir na Gréine (Altar of the Sun), is believed to have been destroyed in the 1840s and its stones broken up and removed for use as building material. British aristocrat and traveler Lady Georgiana Chatterton made a sketch of the monument when she visited the site in 1838. Describing the site as “an interesting piece of antiquity”, she suggested it was used for sacrifices to the Sun.

However, when the antiquarian Richard Hitchcock came to West Kerry to examine the grave in 1852, he found that the monument no longer existed, “the stones from which it was formed having been broken and carried away for the purpose of construction, as if it had been there”. “There was no one else around.”

Although a 19th-century funerary monument was found near Baile-an-Fairtearai, the exact location of the monument is lost. But now, the tomb dating back nearly 4,000 years has been rediscovered.

But the 180-year-old mystery has now been solved by folklorist Billy Mag Floynn.

The folklorist not only found a prehistoric site, but also discovered that some large stones believed to have been removed were still in place. Mr Meg Floynn had long been fascinated by Miss Chatterton’s sketch and the association of Altoir na Gréine with the sun in local folklore, and began searching for the ‘lost’ tomb on the slopes of Cruach Mhartháin.

Local folklorist Billy Mag Floyne first noticed the stones at the top of the hill during a recent archaeological mapping project and later compared the hill to the one drawn by Lady Chatterton. Floynn’s initial excavations discovered several large upright orthostates and a capstone; This refutes local legends that the tomb was completely destroyed in the mid-19th century.

Archaeologist Caimin O’Brien of the National Monuments Service in Dublin confirmed that the stones represented about a quarter of the original Bronze Age burial, dated between 2500 and 2000 BC. Cuneiform tombs are the most numerous megalithic burial structures found on the Dingle Peninsula.

Folklorist Mag Floinn believes that the “taboo” surrounding the destruction of such graves is related to 19th-century beliefs of “misfortune or disaster connected with their death.”

“They are usually placed on a hill, but not at the highest point. Some agreements are often associated with them. Most of the time the clearing tends to face west, south or southwest,” Mr. Meg Floynn said.

“Often you will find cremated human remains inside, and these are likely the burial site of an important family or community group.

“But they can also be used for other things, such as ceremonies and rituals. They can have cosmological and astronomical significance if they face the setting sun in the west and southwest.”

“For the first time in over 180 years, archaeologists know where the tomb is located, and this will improve our understanding of the distribution of cuneiform tombs,” said Kaimin O’Brien, an archaeologist with the National Monuments Service.

The rediscovered Altóir na Gréine tomb will also form part of a deep mapping project carried out on the peninsula by the University of the Sacred Heart.