05 Feb Ardagh Ringfort
Many of the 40,000 ringforts remaining in Ireland are well preserved, and all are now protected under the National Monuments Act. The Ardagh Ringfort, however,...
early Christian Tag
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...
20 Jun Bring Home the Inishmurray Relics
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_empty_space height="40px"][vc_column_text] Roger Chambers Walker (1806-1854)…was a landlord, barrister and a noted Sligo antiquary…Walker combined the life of...
10 May Stations of the Gleann Cholm Cille Turas: A Gazetteer
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Gleann Cholm Cille (Glencolumcille) — An Turas — The Journey "The stories preserve the enchanted landscape; the well and...
30 Dec Creevykeel Court Tomb
Cliffony, Co. Sligo The site, right off the main Sligo-Bundoran road, allows a convenient stop. But it is difficult for the visitor to escape the traffic...
28 Nov The Black Pig’s Dyke
Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim Because some of its segments correspond roughly to the modern border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Black Pig’s Dyke...
25 Nov Loher Stone Fort
Waterville, Co. Kerry It is likely that a locally important chieftain built this fortified homestead in the Early Christian period. He certainly had a brilliant sense...
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...
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 Tullylin and Carns
Culleens, Co. Sligo Is it possible that there might be a connection between an ancient inauguration stone, a nearby fairy fort, and the apparition that appear...
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...
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...
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...
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 Hill of Slane
There is now nothing remaining of the important monastery and legal center which existed here from the 6th century until the 12th. Also unseen, but...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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 Loughcrew Passage Tombs
(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...
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 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...
