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,...
fairies Tag
11 Jul Abbeyquarter Passage Tomb
[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] "Strange to find a pagan burial-place in such a position, within hearing of the hum of the now...
16 Jun Folklore, Archaeology, and William Butler Yeats
[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" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text]Irish poet William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 - 28 January 1939) was born into the Anglo-Irish...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
16 Oct Rosses Point:
“The Celtic Twilight”
Rosses, Co. Sligo "At the northern corner of Rosses is a little promontory of sand and rocks and grass: a mournful, haunted place. No wise peasant...
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...
14 Oct Leacanabuaile
and Cahergall Forts
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...
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...
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...
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...
25 Jul Teltown (Tailteann)
Kells, Co. Meath The Teltown Fair was said to include Olympic-like competitions of strength and agility, even horse races and staged battles. There was also a...
03 May Ardnamagh Fairy Fort
Moynalty, Co. Meath Ireland has remnants of more than 45,000 ringforts. There were once many more, now leveled and lost. That so many have survived is...
03 May Ballymacdermot Court Tomb
Killeavy, Co. Armagh The earliest oral traditions speak of the Dé Danann. Later poets re-worked these legends into ballads celebrating the conflicts with the Viking. Thus...
21 Apr The City and
the Paps of Anu
Rathmore, Co. Kerry "When you stand in the middle of the Cathair you get great feeling of satisfaction that you're standing here on one of the...
21 Apr Staigue Fort
Sneem, Co. Kerry The local peasantry called the building Staig an air, which was translated as "Windy House, or "The Staired Place of Slaughter." It was...
21 Apr Lough Gur
Bruff, Co. Limerick There is no other spot in Ireland so rich in the evidence of prehistoric habitation and ceremony, and also in the mythic traditions...
21 Apr Newgrange
Slane, Co Meath In 1699 the proprietor of the townland of New Grange needed stones for building. He dug into the scrub-covered mound on his land...
