Harristown Passage Tomb stands on a sandstone hill overlooking the mouth of Waterford Harbour to the east, and presenting fantastic coastal views to the south. The passage tombs of Harristown along with Matthewstown and Carriglong in Waterford all date from the Bronze Age unlike most of the other passage tombs in Ireland which are Neolithic in date. These three tombs are more similar in design to those in Cornwall or on the Scilly Isles, which indicates how important seafaring was to its builders. One of the reasons it s deemed similar to these tombs is that the 6 metre passage and its chambers are one and the same. The passage tomb is surrounded by twenty kerb stones about 10 metres in diameter, originally 29 stones would have surrounded the tomb. J Hawkes excavated the monument in 1939 and found two primary creations accompanied by a stone-axe amulet and a similarly fashioned pebble. Secondary burials were discovered alongside a food vessel, cremation urns, a pigmy cup, a bronze blade, and stone beads and bone pins. One metre from the entrance of the tomb a cremation pit was exposed that held the remains of three individuals.

Harristown is a beautiful tomb, sadly overlooked by some radio masts and enclosed by a barbed wire fence, entry is possible by phoning the number posted at the entrance.

GPS: 52.18314, -7.01223