¹Thomson, Chris. "Carrowkeel." Story Archaeology. 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. <http://storyarchaeology.com/2012/11/26/carrowkeel/>.

²St. Joseph, J.K.S., and E.R. Norman. The Early Development of Irish Society, the Evidence of Aerial Photography. London: Cambridge UP, 1969. 37.
Archaeologist Sam Moore noted in 2008: "Scant evidence of artifacts shows activity throughout the Bronze Age with Iron Age activity being centred around the Caves of Keshcorran. It is entirely possible, but difficult to prove, that the passage tombs and access to the monuments and the landscape around them became taboo or restricted." (Moore, Sam. "Myths and Folklore as Aids in Interpreting the Prehistoric Landscape at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo, Ireland." Folk Beliefs and Practice in Medieval Lives. Ed. Ann-Britt Falk and Donata M. Kyritz. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2008.)

³Moore, Sam. "Myths and Folklore as Aids in Interpreting the Prehistoric Landscape at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo, Ireland." Folk Beliefs and Practice in Medieval Lives. Ed. Ann-Britt Falk and Donata M. Kyritz. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2008.
Moore noted about the Ordnance Survey: "By having a name a particular space is given some importance, but this importance is ignored in many cases by the surveyors... Perhaps they were not seen as important - they are on hill-tops in out of the way places; they were a place apart from settlement; away from roads and productive land - places without much economic value. This absence of attention concerning the passage tombs and cairns continued beyond the production of the 1837 Ordnance Survey maps and, due in part to those who used the maps in later periods, failed to get any attention from antiquarians until seventy four years later. The complex's liminal place in the landscape was perhaps one of the reasons that attracted the passage tomb builders in the first place and an aspect this liminality meant it became a place apart, an almost forgotten cultural landscape that no one went to."

⁴Macalister, R.A.S., E.C.R. Armstrong, and R.L.I. Praeger. "Report on the Exploration of Bronze-Age Carns on Carrowkeel Mountain, Co. Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 29 (1911/1912): 322-23.
This cairn, which has a fence running across the top of it, was described thus by Macalister: "The name seems to indicate that it stood open, and fairly complete, so suggesting the idea of a "house," till it was wrecked by the fence-builders."
The only other local name reported in the complex was noted by John Wilmot in a blog post, but is not found elsewhere. He indicated that the destroyed Cairn D is called the "Fairy Circle". (Willmott, John. "Carrowkeel Cairns." Tales From The Labyrinth. 14 Oct. 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://celticways.blogspot.com/2006/10/carrowkeel-cairns.html>.)
The Caves of Kesh are invoked in legends of King Cormac, Fionn Mac Cumhail , and the Dagda's son. The Heapstown Cairn figures in the legendary Battle of Moytura.

⁵Aviva, Elyn, and Gary C. White. Powerful Places in Ireland. Santa Fe, NM: Pilgrims Process, 2011. 272.
The authors write that "the powerful nature of Carrowkeel transcends any religion."
In 1998 I was leading a group of students from Bradley University on a "photo safari" to Ireland. We assembled for a panoramic group portrait inside Cairn K.

⁶Byrne, Martin. "Carrowkeel Megalithic Complex." The Sacred Island. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/carrowkeel/carrowkeel.html>.

⁷Killanin, Michael Morris, and Michael V. Duignan. The Shell Guide to Ireland. London: Ebury P. in Association with George Rainbird, 1967. 70.

⁸Hensey, Robert, Pádraig Meehan, Marion Dowd, and Sam Moore. "A Century of archaeology—historical excavation and modern research at the Carrowkeel passage tombs, County Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 114 (2014): 1-31.
Macalister's hasty excavations at Carrowkeel, and the ruinous state in which he left some of the cairns has engendered the lore that he used dynamite in the process. While the use of dynamite was not unheard of in some excavations of the era, there is no evidence that Macalister did so. Archaeologist Sam Moore has suggested that Macalister's reputation has suffered due to the fact that he was the least likable of the three investigators in 1911: "The [dynamite] myth may have originated from locals' dislike for him and his methods perhaps. An elderly lady told me her father had met them during the dig in 1911 and said that he liked all of them apart from Macalister." (Moore, Sam. "Carrowkeel Folklore." Message to the author. 22 Oct. 2013. E-mail.)
Macalister himself described his seeming haste and (by modern standards) destructive methods in his excavation of Cairn F: "Some very large blocks had to be removed, and it was decided to drop them into the antechamber, now thoroughly explored, as the labour of removing them entirely from the excavation would have been extremely heavy. Eventually, all the remaining material from the inner chamber was piled into the antechamber, filling it to a height of 10 feet..." (Macalister, R.A.S., E.C.R. Armstrong, and R.L.I. Praeger. "Report on the Exploration of Bronze-Age Carns on Carrowkeel Mountain, Co. Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 29 (1911/1912): 317-18.)
Similarly destructive excavations have serious impacted the Co. Meath passage tombs of Dowth, and at Loughcrew Cairn D.

⁹Praeger, R. Lloyd. The Way That I Went; an Irishman in Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1937. 136-41.

¹⁰Macalister's title for his report ("Report on the Exploration of Bronze-Age Carns...) demonstrates the confidence of his Bronze Age dating of the cairns. He also sought correlate the dating of the monuments with ancient literature, such as the eleventh century Lebor Gabála Erenn (the "Book of Invasions").

¹¹Hensey, Robert, Pádraig Meehan, Marion Dowd, and Sam Moore. "A Century of archaeology—historical excavation and modern research at the Carrowkeel passage tombs, County Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 114 (2014): 1-31.
Archaeologists now understand Carrowkeel to be for the most part a Middle Neolithic monument, not one of Bronze Age origin. While this presumption was until recently based on comparisons to other sites, recent discoveries have confirmed the Neolithic origin of the monuments using radiocarbon dating of bone fragments from the tombs.

¹²Moore "Myths and Folklore"
According to the author, evidence of secondary cist burials were found in cairn B. Macalister found in Cairn O "heaped up discs of sandstone, burnt and unburnt bone and ashes with a secondary vase food vessel placed above these."

¹³Hensey 18.

¹⁴Cooney, Gabriel. "The Passage Tomb Phenomenon in Ireland." Archaeology Ireland 11.3 (Supplement: Brú Na Bóinne) (1997): 7.
The author explains the elaboration of passage tombs as the phenomena spread from the west coast of Ireland to its east "as indicating a greater separation of what went on inside the tomb from the outside world. It would seem that over time the placement of bones and contact with the ancestors become more rarefied activities, the domain of elders and/or shamans who were recognised as being skilled in dealing with the spirit world."
Another possible explanation is offered by Alison Sheridan, who asserted that" the development of Irish passage tombs can best be understood in terms of the attempts of competing groups to outdo each other in the hallowing of the dead. In this particular case, then, the ideology of death appears to have been harnessed closely to the power politics of the living, and used as a medium for the assertion of status." (Sheridan, Alison. "Megaliths and Megalomania: An Account, and Interpretation, of the Development of Passage Tombs in Ireland." The Journal of Irish Archaeology 3 (1985/1986): 30.)

¹⁵Moore, Sam. "Carrowkeel Complex." Message to the author. 30 Oct. 2013. E-mail.
For his research, Moore divided the Bricklieve mountains into two study areas, Carrowkeel and Keshcorran. There are 15 cairns in the Carrowkeel area (16 including cairn Y), and 8 in the Keshcorran area, for a total 24 "related passage tomb tradition monuments." There are three outliers not in the Bricklieve Mountains: Ardloy, Heapstown and Suigh Lughaidh.

¹⁶Sheridan, Alison. "Megaliths and Megalomania: An Account, and Interpretation, of the Development of Passage Tombs in Ireland." The Journal of Irish Archaeology 3 (1985/1986): 17-30.
In 2009 traces of megalithic art were discovered in Carrowkeel Cairn B, with a bit more found the next year. As Robert Hensey describes his discovery: "In the course of carefully examining the orthostats within the chamber using oblique lighting, two circular and concentric carved designs became apparent on the top part of orthostat 5." (Hensey, Robert, and Guillaume Robin. "Once Upon a Time in the West." Archaeology Ireland 26.3 (2012): 26-29.) A composite photograph from this article may be seen here.

¹⁷Zucchelli, Christine. Stones of Adoration Sacred Stones and Mystic Megaliths of Ireland. Doughcloyne, Wilton, Cork: Collins, 2007. 16-17.
Regarding the use of quartz on the outside of the cairns, the author writes, "Spiritually, the white crystalline stone is sometimes connected with the rising sun; more commonly, however, it is linked with the moon and the female cycle."
Macalister discovered small, smooth white stone balls together with some of the internments in the cairns when he excavated them. Some, being pierced by marine mollusks, were evidently brought from the seashore. Macalister wrote: "The custom of placing white stones in interments seems to have been common in prehistoric times, and has been frequently noted. It is possible that the stones were believed to have some magical significance." (Macalister, R.A.S., E.C.R. Armstrong, and R.L.I. Praeger. "Report on the Exploration of Bronze-Age Carns on Carrowkeel Mountain, Co. Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 29 (1911/1912): 340.)
According to archaeologist Sam Moore, "a mountain top called Croghan, which has a small passage tomb on its summit and may (incredibly tentatively as there has been no geochemistry done) be the source of the quartz for Carrowkeel, of which there is little left due to souvenir hunters." (Moore, Sam. Cairn G Roof-Box" Message to the author. 22 Oct. 2013. E-mail.)

¹⁸Macalister 347.

¹⁹Macalister 323-24.

²⁰Herity, Michael. Irish Passage Graves. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. 185-86.
The author continues, "Fertility, too, is a strong and constant theme, probably represented in the inviting attitudes of the goddess of Loughcrew Cairn U and Sess Kilgreen, certainly in the phalli of Knowth and New Grange; probably also in the stones which stood erect in the chambers of Bryn Celli Ddu, New Grange and Carrowkeel Cairn F. Phallic pins and paired ball ornaments in everyday wear are constant subliminal reminders of the principle."

²¹The Kescorran cairn, part of the larger Carrowkeel-Keshcorran Complex, is also visible from the south. (Moore, Sam. "Visiting Carrowkeel" Message to the author. 3 July 2013. E-mail.)
Macalister began his discussion of Cairn F thusly: "This structure was in some respects the most important of the entire series...It is of large size, and beautifully regular. It is indicated only by an indefinite symbol, not as an ancient monument, on the Ordnance map, though it is perhaps the most conspicuous of the whole series." (Macalister, R.A.S., E.C.R. Armstrong, and R.L.I. Praeger. "Report on the Exploration of Bronze-Age Carns on Carrowkeel Mountain, Co. Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 29 (1911/1912): 324.)

²²Macalister 324-27.

²³Macalister 324-27.
Macalister found ox bones, which he presumed were there from a sacrificial ceremony, during the excavation of Cairn F. He also discovered eight "carefully selected water-worn stones." Of the broken standing stone, he concluded, "This menhir is the central point of interest in the whole series of structures. That it is constructional is absolutely out of the question. Its central position in the sanctum sanctorum of the most imposing of all the carns indicates that it had a peculiar importance. That it is a religious symbol is scarcely questionable; and here we have, therefore, some light on the general question of the age and use of the standing-stones that are so conspicuous among the prehistoric monuments of Ireland."

²⁴Macalister 327-28.

²⁵Brück, J., 2001. "Monuments, Power and Personhood in the British Neolithic." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 7(4): 649–67, as cited in Hensey, Robert. "The Observance of Light: A Ritualistic Perspective on 'Imperfectly' Aligned Passage Tombs." Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture 1.3 (2008): 320.
Hensey would disagree with those who suggest that megalithic monuments were solely or even primarily a way for elites to project their power. His article seeks to address the less easily quantified issues regarding the Cairn G roof-box: "What is perhaps evinced by these annual visitors to this site is that because archaeology has been principally concerned with addressing alignments from a technical perspective it may have neglected to pay due consideration to the 'experience' of the phenomenon."

²⁶Moore, Sam. "Cairn G Roof-Box" Message to the author. 22 Oct. 2013. E-mail.
Sam Moore writes, "If you look at the internal arrangement of the chambers within cairns G and K, which you have done on VR you will see that, unlike any other passage tombs that I have seen, the building construction of the lintel stones above the entrances to the chambers forms a void above each of the chamber entrances...So this particular architectural feature is also present in the entrance to cairn G, which Martin Byrne and others have suggested acts as a roof box similar to that in Newgrange. However, being cautious, it might merely be an architectural feature that allows the ceiling corbels to spring from along the passage, and it may originally have been covered in cairn material with no opening whatsoever. " Moore references a photograph of myself (Howard Goldbaum) emerging from Cairn G, taken in 1979, that I provided to him: "The photograph of you at cairn G...shows denuded corbels very clearly before the cairn was 'tidied up' by the OPW. Alternatively it could be a 'portal' for ancestral spirits to come and go and may have been blocked and opened at certain times, but this is impossible to prove."
As part of the basis for his skepticism regarding the roof-box, Moore also points to the alignment at Cairn G: "The astronomical alignment at G is imperfect and the sun comes into G obliquely for a considerable period over the solstice. Cairn H is more accurately aligned. Given the orientation spread of the 14 cairns with identifiable passages NW to NE there is a high statistical probability that the sun will come in to some of them around the solstice." (Moore, Sam. "Cairn G Details" Message to the author. 4 July. 2013. E-mail.)

²⁷Hensey, Robert. "The Observance of Light: A Ritualistic Perspective on 'Imperfectly' Aligned Passage Tombs." Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture 1.3 (2008): 324.

²⁸Macalister 315.

²⁹In 1998 I led a group of students from Bradley University (Illinois) on a photo safari to Ireland. We explored Carrowkeel and made a panoramic group portrait inside Cairn K.

³⁰Bergh, Stefan. "The Mullaghfarna Enclosures - An Upland "Settlement" in a Passage Tomb Context." School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway, 7 May 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nuigalway.ie/archaeology/Research/Landscape_Archaeology/Bergh_Mullaghfarna_Enclosures/mullaghfarna_enclosures_index.html>.
Bergh conducted a high-resolution survey of the plateau using digital photogrammetry based upon aerial photography, which identified 153 enclosures/hut sites. Then followed interpretative plans of each individual site. "This work is extremely time consuming, as it involves extensive GIS analysis, followed up by detailed work in the field." Small-scale trial excavations in 2003 produced finds of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age dates from a collection of cremated bones, teeth of animals, hazelnut shells, charcoal, small pieces of pottery and small tools, including an Antrim flint knife and some concave scrapers.
An earlier author described the hut-sites: "They have two rings of upright stone slabs with small stones between them, to give a wall some three feet in thickness. They range between 20 and 42 feet in diameter. Since only the foundations remain it is impossible to speculate about the original appearance of these structures. None appear to have doorways, and most are clearly too large to have had corbelled roofs. Thatch is unthinkable at this altitude and in so exposed a position, though wood, from the abundant forests which once crept up to the foot of the mountain, could have provided roofing materials. The structures were probably not actual dwellings, however, but wind-shields and protective enclosures against wild animals within which wooden huts were built." (St. Joseph, J.K.S., and E.R. Norman. The Early Development of Irish Society, the Evidence of Aerial Photography. London: Cambridge UP, 1969.)

³¹Walk—don't think of driving—the rough road from the top car park at Carrowkeel down onto the valley floor. Then head south from the deserted farm, known locally as Joker Healy's, across the fields onto the Doonaveeragh plateau. Cross the field wall to enter the area of the hut site enclosures. The highest point of this outcrop is in Doonaveeragh where there are two cairns, O and P. There is a deserted stone cottage at the end of the Doonaveeragh plateau. Alternatively the hut sites can be approached from the other side of the mountain, from the end of a meandering road. From the N4 take the second right turn heading south from Castlebaldwin. Then continue to the base of the plateau, and begin your climb. More info here, and here.

³²Macalister 342-43.
Dr. Alexander Macalister was the father of archaeologist R.A.S. Macalister and assisted the excavators in the analysis of the human remains they discovered. He was a Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge University, where the bones were sent for analysis, and then forgotten.

³³Hensey 16.
The human remains from Carrowkeel sent to Professor Macalister's laboratory at Cambridge University have recently been located and may soon be subject to radiocarbon dating. According to the authors: "Ideally the material in Cambridge should be returned to the National Museum of Ireland and the complete human bone assemblage should receive osteological analysis to modern standards. Notwithstanding A. Macalister’s considerable reputation, it is important to bear in mind that his analysis is of its time and re-analysis to modern scientific standards would result in more accurate and informative results." (p. 22).

³⁴Macalister 340.
The rounded, marble-like stone balls are often found in passage tombs in close proximity to the human remains. Quoting C.F. Gordon Cummin, (In the Hebrides, p. 45) Wood-Martin wrote, "These pebbles were also found in most of the old tombs recently excavated in the neighbourhood of Dundee: in fact, so frequent was their presence that it was common for the workmen employed in excavating to exclaim: 'Here are the two stones! -- now we will get the bones."' (Wood-Martin, W.G., The Rude Stone Monuments of Ireland: Co. Sligo and Achill Island. Dublin: Hodges, Figges and Co., 1888. 87.)

³⁵"Carrowkeel Ware." Oxford Reference. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095551723>.

³⁶Macalister 340.
According to Hensey et al, Macalister's drew a pottery vessel using fragments of what appear to be Carrowkeel ware in a reconstruction with a flat base in the style of a Bronze Age food vessel, the Neolithic sherd apparently being forced into a predetermined Bronze Age style in his sketch. (Hensey, Robert, Pádraig Meehan, Marion Dowd, and Sam Moore. "A Century of archaeology—historical excavation and modern research at the Carrowkeel passage tombs, County Sligo." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 114 (2014): 15.)

³⁷Cairn Q, atop Keshcorran in Bergh's scheme, is also known locally as "The Pinnacle."

³⁸Moore, Sam. "The Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo People and a Pre-monumental Landscape." Proc. of Association of Young Irish Archaeologists 2003, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.academia.edu/1601616/_The_Carrowkeel_Passage_Tomb_Complex_Co._Sligo_people_and_a_pre-monumental_landscape_Association_of_Young_Irish_Archaeologists_Conference_Papers_2003_UCC_Cork_2003>.
The phrase "'ideological communication' is from Bergh, Stefan. Landscape of the Monuments: a study of the passage tombs in the Cuil Irra region, Co. Sligo. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbet Arkeologska Undersöknigar, 1995. 162.

³⁹Moore, Sam. "Counting the Carrowkeel Cairns" Message to the author. 20 Oct. 2013. E-mail.
Charles Mount wrote of the Carrowkeel region: "This area has evidence of settlement of every archaeological period except, to date, the Mesolithic. All four main types of megalithic tomb have been noted here as well as cairns and barrows dating from the Bronze Age. Early Christian settlement is particularly well represented with numerous ringforts, cashels and crannogs occurring throughout the area. Furthermore a number of medieval church sites are distributed through the area as well as a late sixteenth century castle and fortified house, and evidence of seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century vernacular settlement is also particularly well preserved. A decline in settlement in the area has been marked for a century of more and this has resulted in an almost unparalleled preservation of upstanding remains so that these uplands are a sort of open air laboratory where theories about the past can be tested." (Mount, Charles. "The Environmental Siting of Neolithic and Bronze Age Monuments in the Bricklieve and Moytirra Uplands, County Sligo." The Journal of Irish Archaeology 7 (1996): 1.)

⁴⁰Macalister 346.

⁴¹Thomson.
The author concludes, "I have stood inside pyramids and explored a thief's entrance into an underground Mastaba, but these hilltop cairns have a unique ambience."
In 1979, when it began to rain during my first visit to Carrowkeel, my companion and I took refuge inside Cairn G. There we took out our small backpack stove and heated our cans of stew for a supper inside the tomb. We left behind no trash.
Another blog author writes, "For me Carrowkeel is quite simply the finest of the major Irish megalithic cemeteries." ("Carrowkeel-Keshcorran Complex." The Modern Antiquarian. Julian Cope, 16 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/1038/carrowkeelkeshcorran_complex.html>.)

⁴²Moore "The Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex"
A guidebook author says of the cairns, "They seem to nestle into the side of the ridges, like artificial caves, their dark entryways alluring and disturbing, beckoning from beneath rounded piles of stone rubble." (Aviva, Elyn, and Gary C. White. Powerful Places in Ireland. Santa Fe, NM: Pilgrims Process, 2011. 272.)

⁴³Poynder, Michael. Pi in the sky: a revelation of the ancient Celtic wisdom tradition. Cork: Collins, 1997.
Poynder described an "energy star" centered within the Carrowkeel Complex. Apparently deriving his initial inspiration for his book from a visit to Carrowkeel, he uses a dowsing stick or pendulum to determine the hidden flow's of earth energy. Poynder wrote of his Carrowkeel energy star: "[One] must tune into the map and think of it as a picture of a vibrant living organism, having rebalanced any disruptions using the spiral of tranquility. Gradually as the pendulum swings back and forth across the map the white, red and black input line of the Star is located at cairn 'P' on the rear summit of Doonaveeragh." A map of this energy star from his book may be viewed here. One online reviewer's comments may be read here.
The Carrowkeel Complex has engendered other modern folklore, such as the oft-repeated but undocumented story of Macalister using dynamite during his 1911 excavations. Another story, although spurious, is found both online and in print. It concerns the modern usage of the cairns as a cillín, an unconsecrated burial site used for unbaptized infants, outside of the Catholic cemetery. This legend may have been prompted by the discovery of an actual cillín in a place called Carrowkeel in Co. Galway.

⁴⁴Moore, Sam. "Carrowkeel Folklore." Message to the author. 22 Oct. 2013. E-mail.
Moore's photograph of the modern artifacts he found in the Treanmacmurtagh cairn may be seen here. Moore also photographed what may have been a modified St. Brigid's Cross, with human hair braided around lollipop sticks, while exploring one of the Caves of Kesh.

⁴⁵Galvin, Brendan. "Carrowkeel." Poetry 154.6 (1989): 329-30. Used with permission.