12/10/2026
For this weekβs Ulster Monuments Monday, we will be looking at a cairn in County Derry/Londonderry that may have inspired the book βDraculaβ!
The Slaghtaverty Cairn (LDY 026:045) is a prehistoric megalithic monument found in Slaghtaverty townland, north of Maghera. Its name may come from the Irish Sleacht Abhartach, βthe grave or grave-mound of Abhartach.β It sits on a western-facing slope in a pasture field under a hawthorn tree. It was first recorded as being a long stone cairn with 2 megalithic stones at its centre, with the cairn measuring 16 metres northeast-southwest x 24 metres northwest-southeast. Unfortunately, all that remains of this cairn are 2 large boulders, 1 lying north-south and the other mostly buried. The eastern stone is 2.55 metres long, 1.1 meters wide and 0.9 metres thick, while the other stone is 1.9 metres long, 0.65 metres wide and 0.35 metres thick. The nearby hawthorn tree has stones scattered around it, which may be what remains of the cairn. Near Slaghtaverty Cairn are 2 other archaeological sites: LDY026:044 (enclosure) and LDY026:064 (urn burial).
This site went into state care in 1971. In 2004, due to the planning application for a new dwelling near the monument, 4 evaluation trenches were excavated nearby. 20-30 centimetres of topsoil were removed, and no archaeological features or artefacts were found.
In 1870, Patrick Joyce wrote of an Irish legend associated with the site in his book βThe Origin and History of Irish Place Namesβ: βThere is a place in the parish of Errigal in Londonderry, called Slaghtaverty, but it ought to have been called Laghtaverty, the laght or sepulchral monument of the abhartach [avartagh] or dwarf (see p. 61, supra). This dwarf was a magician, and a dreadful tyrant, and after having perpetrated great cruelties on the people he was at last vanquished and slain by a neighbouring chieftain; some say by Fionn Mac Cumhail. He was buried in a standing posture, but the very next day he appeared in his old haunts, more cruel and vigorous than ever. And the chief slew him a second time and buried him as before, but again he escaped from the grave, and spread terror through the whole country. The chief then consulted a druid, and according to his directions, he slew the dwarf a third time, and buried him in the same place, with his head downwards; which subdued his magical power, so that he never again appeared on earth. The laght raised over the dwarf is still there, and you may hear the legend with much detail from the natives of the place, one of whom told it to meβ (page 319).
The more modern legends claim that Abhartach was a local chieftain (his name possibly indicating that he was a little person or someone with a physical disability) who drank the blood of his subjects after he was killed by a man named Cathain/CathΓ‘n, a neighbouring chieftain. Cathain/CathΓ‘n reportedly consulted a wise man (either a druid or an early Christian saint) and was told that Abhartach was a neabh-mairbh, a walking dead, who could only be stopped if he were killed by a sword made from yew wood, buried upside down, his grave surrounded by thorns and a large stone placed on top of his burial.
Locals report that in 1997, people attempted to cut down the hawthorn tree, only for machinery to fail, someone to be injured, and the ground itself to have shaken.
Have you even been to Slaghtaverty Cairn? Have you experienced anything while there? Or do you know of any other tales associated with it? Put those in the comments!
Slaghtaverty is mentioned 4 times in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. Search βSlaghtavertyβ on our JSTOR page to read these articles for free.
Remember you can read all UJAs up until 2022 *for free* at https://www.jstor.org/journal/ulstjarch.
Have a marvellous Monday!
Image 1: https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/NISMR-PUBLIC/Details.aspx?MonID=12354
Sources:
https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/ancient-sites/slaghtaverty-dolmen/
https://spiritedisle.ie/explore/listing/slaghtaverty-dolmen/
https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/the-abhartach/
https://www.firesidehorror.co.uk/blog-2/irish-folklore-the-garvagh-vampire
