Carrowkeel

Carrowkeel

A place I’ve often longed to visit but, between one thing and another, never had and indeed I never thought I would. Some time ago, there was a disgraceful act of vandalism done to this sacred site, and the area was closed to the public. I was surprised and delighted to find it had been reopened, and this was the perfect way to end my birthday journey of ancient places.

There are two car parks, both very small, leading up to the Carrowkeel complex, one nearer to the “main” road and one further up a narrow track. We parked our camper at the first one so from there to the first cairn was roughly 2.5 km though from the starting point it actually looks longer. The way is fairly flat at first, followed by a gentle rise over a long zig-zag route that ascends from a valley floor up the side of one of the hills of the Bricklieve mountatins. Bricklieve comes from the Irish Breac Shliabh, meaning speckled mountain and this use of “speckled” is seen in other places associated with our older sites. The landscape is filled with heather, ferns and wild horned sheep that watch you warily, before trotting up the steep slopes with ease.

The Carrowkeel area is home to 14 cairns dating back to at least 5500 years and a further 12 such cairns are scattered within a 6km radius, making this area one of the main regions of Neolithic monuments in Ireland. The view on the way up is spectacular, as you can see towards Lough Arrow where one of the furthest and largest cairns, the Heapstown Cairn is situated. This is said to be on the site of the Battle of Moytura, the place where the Tuatha de Danann fought the Formorians.

When you arrive near the top of the hill, you must go off the wide gravel path and climb up a bogland area, not too far, to reach the first of the cairns, Cairn G. This is one of the best known, with its roof box, reminiscent of the slightly younger but much more spectacular cairn of Newgrange in County Meath. Squeezing in past the entrance stone you can view the low narrow passage that opens into a large cruciform chamber. Interestingly there is an absence of Neolithic art, compared to that of Loughcrew or indeed Newgrange.

Further up the hill are several more cairns and the sense of being in a place of such ancient importance is very tangible. Strangely, I felt a different atmosphere than when I visit Loughcrew, one more related to that of power, as these monuments are so obviously aligned in a row, pointing towards other such cairns thoughout the area, and nearly all within sight of the great Carin of Knocknarea, often known as Queen Maedbh’s cairn. You feel that this place was well populated in Neolithic times, and these beacons of spirituality on hill tops, make you wonder what type of society built these monuments, monuments which once would have gleamed white as the sun glinted on the white quartz with which they were covered.

 

Contact Details

Margaret McKenna
Carrick Eighter, Virginia, Co. Cavan, Ireland
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Art to me, is storytelling a means to visually capture the atmosphere and tell the tales behind our landscape or capture the essence of that person’s character.

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