09 Dec Fuerty Fairy Fort
Fuerty Fairy Fort, Co. Roscommon According to Liam Connolly, the fairy fort in sight of his kitchen window was used as a burial ground during the...
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24 Jul Labbacallee Wedge Tomb
Glanworth, Co. Cork This tomb was built two millennia before the ascendancy of the Celts, whose legends named this monument the "Bed of the Witch...
30 Nov The Giant’s Causeway
Portballintrae, Co. Antrim In legend, these 40,000 interlocking blocks of stone were the first segment of a roadway stretching across the sea to Scotland. It was...
25 Nov The Grianán of Aileach
Burt, Co. Donegal Bus loads of schoolchildren drive up the winding road where the Grianán of Aileach dominates the summit. As the youngsters disperse to explore...
23 Nov The Mound of Down, and
Down Cathedral
Downpatrick, Co. Down The Mound of Down is but a short walk down the hill from Down Cathedral. The Mound dates from the Iron Age; the...
22 Nov Skellig Michael
Co. Kerry "The scene is one so solemn and so sad that none should enter here but the pilgrim and the penitent." (Lord Dunraven, 1875) "The...
22 Nov Dún An Óir
Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry There is little left to see at Dún An Óir. The earthworks from the hastily-constructed 1580 fortification have been eroded by weather and...
20 Nov Binder’s Cove Souterrain
Finnis, Co. Down Binder's Cove souterrain may have been constructed as a place of refuge where its owners could escape when threatened, torches ablaze as they...
16 Nov Dunbeg Fort (An Dún Beag)
Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry In 1910 T.J. Westropp called Dunbeg "the most complex and remarkable of the Irish promontory forts." But archaeologists have few finds from...
12 Nov Castlestrange La Tène Stone
Athleague, Co. Roscommon The glory of the Castlestrange Estate has long since turned to ruin. However one remnant of its opulence still remains: the prehistoric La...
11 Nov Tobernaveen Holed Stone
Woodville, Co. Sligo The use of this stone in folk remedies did not end at the beginning of the twentieth century. A woman living very close...
09 Nov Carrowkeel Passage Tombs
Castlebaldwin, Co. Sligo The Carrowkeel passage tombs are only 20 minutes from the rushing traffic of the N4. But they are a world apart: a transition...
30 Oct Rathcroghan Royal Site
Tulsk, Co. Roscommon Rathcroghan has both a geographic and a symbolic presence. It is an archaeological treasure trove, but it also is the venue of a...
20 Oct Minard Castle,
Ring Fort, and Holy Well
Anascaul, Co. Kerry The drama of the Anglo-Irish conflict, explosively played out here in 1650, was—more than 300 years later—the backdrop for the 1970 film Ryan’s...
16 Oct Gallarus Oratory
Dingle, Co. Kerry
You can still feel the community pack
This place: it’s like going into a turfstack,
A core of old dark walled up with stone
A yard...
16 Oct Knock Áine
Knockainey, Co. Limerick This sacred hill of the fairy queen Áine, who was known as both sun goddess and love goddess, was a ceremonial site long...
15 Oct Knocknafearbreaga Alignment
Knockanoura, Co. Clare These are, in legend, a band of robbers turned to stone. As Mary Harrison explains, there was something so powerful about these stones...
15 Oct Tullaghan Hill Holy Well
Coolaney, Co. Sligo Although it is two miles from the sea, and atop a mountain, the well was in 1188 called one of the wonders of...
15 Oct The King’s Stables
Navan, Co. Armagh Not a natural feature such as a holy well, this artificial pool was dug out, and allowed to fill in with water, to...
15 Oct Lubitavish Court Tomb:
“Ossian’s Grave”
Cushendall, Co. Antrim This tomb was known as “Cloughbrack” on early maps. It is unclear when it became connected with Ossian and the effort to reclaim...
15 Oct Killinagh Church
and Cursing Stone
Blacklion, Co. Cavan The ruins of the church at Killinagh, with its adjacent holy well and ruined prehistoric tomb, have long appeared to be a place...
15 Oct Doagh Holestone
Doagh, Co. Antrim A visitor to the Doagh Holestone might find the ground blanketed in flower petals, the remnants of a visit by newlyweds come to...
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...
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...
13 Oct The Gate of the Cow;
Kilmalkedar Keelers Stone
Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry Near the town of Ballyferriter are two stone monuments vividly bringing into the landscape the stories of an enchanted cow whose milk was...
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...