- Location: Ballaragh Rd, Laxey, Isle of Man
- Opening times: 24 hours
- Entry: No charge.
- Access: Parking on street.
I always set off with a specific destination in mind but one of the things I like most about this Brown Sign Bagging malarky is coming across a sign for something I didn’t even know existed that then turns out to be something quite marvellous. Past examples include the Clava Cairns and the Aberlemno Stones, doubly delightful discoveries as I’m a fan of Old Stones, anything from the prehistoric to the Pictish. Today Annie and I were heading for the Great Laxey Wheel when we – and by ‘we’ I mean ‘I’ – were temporarily thrown off course by a brown sign for something that definitely fell into the ‘Old Stones’ category, King Orry’s Grave.
King Orry is a rather confusing figure from Manx mythology who, depending on your source, was the legendary first Norse king of Man, or a three-legged giant, or was an alternative name of Godred Crovan, the historical Norse-Gaelic ruler of Dublin and the Isles. However, one certainty is that he is not buried in King Orry’s Grave, which predates both the folkloric and historic versions by about four thousand years.King Orry’s Grave is in fact the largest megalithic tomb on the Isle of Man and is about 5,000 years old. It contained at least three chambers which would have been filled with burials, of which no trace remains today. The tomb was abandoned during the Neolithic period and plundered for its materials in more recent centuries.
One of the things I liked most about this site was its location, the fact it was next to a main road and surrounded by twentieth century houses rather than being tucked away up some distant fell or lonely plain. Hopefully the people living in those houses haven’t become blasé and still appreciate their Neolithic neighbour.
Destination or Diversion?
The two photographs above pretty much show the whole site so King Orry’s Grave is no more than a diversion.
