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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Burren Forest Park, Co. Cavan Known as "The Druid’s Altar," for the legendary bloody sacrifices it was reputed to have witnessed, and as the "The Calf...
Ballynahatty, Co. Down Unique in the country for its central stone tomb, this monument is the largest enclosed ceremonial space in Ireland. The top of the...
Waterville, Co. Kerry This low monument south of Waterville is said to be the grave of Fial, a woman of the invading tribe who died from...
Ballyvourney, Co. Cork St. Gobnait's monastic site contains two holy wells and the reputed grave of this sixth-century holy woman within a ruined prehistoric tomb. It...
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...
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...
Portaferry, Co. Down Tara Fort sits on a prominent hilltop southeast of Portaferry, on Northern Ireland’s Ards Peninsula. Thomas McKeating claimed that "these fairies were supposed...