The north Munster atypical court tombs of western Ireland social dynamics, regional trajectories and responses to distant events over the course of the Neolithic.

A distinct group of megaliths in western Ireland is defined and described. These north Munster atypical court tombs are related to the more common Irish megaliths known as court tombs and also to monuments even farther afield, but the north Munster megaliths are architecturally distinct and geographically isolated. These north Munster atypical court tombs are associated, at least in part, with the widespread Carinated Bowl tradition of the Early Neolithic but north Munster societies followed a trajectory distinct from other regions as the Neolithic progressed. Compared to areas farther to the north and east in Ireland where there is evidence for dynamic social structures and consequent efforts to legitimate and demonstrate social statuses, Neolithic north Munster societies appear to have been smaller, more stable and less open to innovations. The geography of Ireland appears to have helped separate north Munster Neolithic societies from regions with more dynamic demographic, social and ritual milieus, but north Munster was not completely isolated. The evidence from the excavated north Munster atypical court tomb at Parknabinnia shows that some distant events may well have influenced practices in the far west of Ireland.