15 Oct The Rock of Doon
Termon, Co. Donegal The Rock of Doon is a craggy eminence with a storied past and a glorious panoramic view. On its flat summit there was...
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15 Oct Tigh Mhóire
Dún Chaoin (Dunquin), Co. Kerry Tigh Mhóire contains what may be a prehistoric tomb, a fragment of an early cross-slab, and the grave of a Spanish...
15 Oct Rosdoagh Court Tomb
Rossport, Co. Mayo Its postcard location does not mean that this monument is free from modern controversies. In 2005 five local landowners were jailed for their...
15 Oct Rathgall Hillfort
Tullow, Co. Wicklow The blarney recounted by nineteenth-century travel writers in Ireland has not gone out of style. In June of 1979 our informants delighted in...
15 Oct Poulnabrone Dolmen
The Burren, Co. Clare This exquisitely-proportioned monument sits just off a main tourist route, its spacious new parking area accommodating dozens of buses disgorging daily many...
15 Oct Howth Dolmen
Howth, Co. Dublin Nineteenth-century antiquarian Samuel Ferguson believed it to be the grave of the legendary Aideen, who died of grief when her husband Oscar was...
14 Oct Labbamolaga
Knockanevin, Co. Cork Just below the hill from the crumbling stone oratory are four standing stones, the remains of a stone circle. The oratory’s entrance, unique...
14 Oct Dowth
Slane, Co Meath Dowth means “darkness.” And darkness is what's left for the visitor today. The electricity has been turned off and entrance is generally prohibited....
14 Oct Cahergal and Leacanabuaile Forts,
Ballycarbery Castle
Kimego West, Co. Kerry The two forts are known in Irish as caiseal, not far from the Irish word for castle, caisleán. In local legend, the...
14 Oct Keel East and
Slievemore Deserted Village
Achill Island, Co. Mayo All ancient monuments carry within their stones a poignant reminder of the lives of long-departed people. However the stones of Keel East...
14 Sep Fourknocks
Stamullen, Co. Meath Fourknocks was unknown until 1950. It has no mention in the old folkloric literature. But the absence of fairies in Fourknocks does not...
14 Sep Beltany Stone Circle
Raphoe, Co. Donegal To add to the distinctiveness of this stone circle, a horrific-looking Iron Age stone head was found near the monument, perhaps indicating that...
13 Sep Dooncarton Stone Circle
Dooncarton, Co. Mayo There are seven stones remaining here on a ridgeline with a dramatic view over Broadhaven Bay. Caesar Otway described in 1850 how his...
12 Sep The Children of the Mermaid
Enniscrone, Co. Sligo The stones on this seaside bluff in Co. Sligo were not, in legend, people accused of any transgression. Rather, it was just a...
08 Sep Kildare Round Tower
and St. Brigid’s Fire Temple
Kildare, Co. Kildare In a churchyard that has seen its great cathedral rise from ruin many times in its 1500 year history sit two stone structures...
08 Sep Árd Ladhran
Ardamine, Co. Wexford The mound of Árd Ladhran was, in legend, the tomb of Ladhra, who was interred just 40 days before Noah’s Ark set...
28 Aug Cairn Thierna
Fermoy, Co. Cork A tumbled pile of stone now seems a secondary feature to the large illuminated Christian cross on the summit of Corrin Hill. But...
25 Aug Clochafarmore
Knockbridge, Co. Louth The tragic end of Cúchulainn, half-supernatural hero of the armies of Ulster, occurred at this tall standing stone. Mortally wounded, he bound himself...
24 Aug Parknabinnia Wedge Tomb
Killinaboy, Co. Clare Paul Keane explains what happened to someone who attempted to remove stones from the tomb. “He went home, and he went into bed,...
24 Aug Caherconree Promontory Fort
Camp, Co Kerry Cú Roí mac Dáire was a legendary sorcerer, an evil magician who resided in the south of Ireland in the brutal tribal era...
23 Aug Keshcorran, and the Caves of Kesh
Keash, Co Sligo It is a steep climb up a hillside, but the view from inside Cormac’s Cave makes it obvious how this location might have...
21 Aug Kealkil Stone Circles
Kealkil, Co. Cork The circle's tallest upright appears similar in proportion to the enigmatic black monolith from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001 A Space Odyssey. That...
20 Aug The Seven Wonders of Fore
Fore, Co. Westmeath St. Féichín’s presence continues to influence the community of Fore, where both pilgrims and locals are able to blend native folk beliefs into...
18 Aug St. Patrick’s Chair and Well
Cullamore, Co. Tyrone Altadaven Glen, the light-dappled dreamscape location of St. Patrick’s Chair and Well, seems like a small patch of fern-filled rain forest magically dropped...
07 Aug Inishmurray Monastic Site
Inishmurray, Co. Sligo Today a visitor on a day trip from Mullaghmore might be tempted to idealize life on this small island. But the story of...
05 Aug Slieve Gullion
Meigh, Co. Armagh This spot might have been conjured by a Hollywood set designer. Who else might have put a magical lake on the summit of...
05 Aug Loughcrew Passage Tomb Complex (Sliabh na Caillíghe)
Oldcastle, Co. Meath On his visit to the Loughcrew hills, also called Sliabh na Caillíghe (The Hill of the Witch) Jonathan Swift heard tales of...
03 Aug Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain, England No, Stonehenge is not in Ireland. But according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Merlin the magician moved Stonehenge from Ireland to England as a...
03 Aug Rostellan Dolmen
Rostellan, Co. Cork Nearly submerged by the tide, the Rostellan Dolmen is the only example of such a "Diarmuid and Gráinne's Bed" to wear a garland...
31 Jul The Hill of Tara
Tara has for generations served as the geographic focus for an aspirational sense of national glory, “the most consecrated spot in Ireland,” where blood was...
29 Jul Cloghanmore Court Tomb
Malin More, Co. Donegal After Cloghanmore was dug out of the bog in the nineteenth century, it was "a ruinous pile," with its roofing-stones tossed aside...
29 Jul The Gleann Cholm Cille Turas
Gleann Cholm Cille, Co. Donegal The Turas is a religious procession that visits 15 different stations in the hills and valleys of this stunningly beautiful spot...