Ireland, 2023 – Walking through an ancient landscape

Sligo Abbey, Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, Strandhill Beach

June 29, 2023

On my full day in Sligo I walked into town from my accommodation and then along a scenic street that followed the Garvoge River.

From there I turned to walk to Sligo Abbey, properly known as the “Holy Cross Dominican Priory”. Founded in 1252, most of the remains on site date from the 13th and 15th centuries. A circular plaque on the wall bluntly summarized the history of the abbey as follows: “Burnt in 1414. Damaged in siege of 1595. Ruined by Hamilton’s army 1641.”

A pamphlet provided a map of the abbey and described various historical and architectural features of note, but today I just wandered about casually taking a few photos of the bell tower, carved memorial stones, archways, and the cloister.

Next I visited the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery located four kilometres out of town. Carrowmore is an amazing site! It is one of the four largest and most important megalithic cemetery complexes in Ireland with over thirty monuments that are the remains of passage tombs. Most of the passage tombs are uncovered “dolmen circles”. The dolmen, or gravesite, would be composed of five upright stones topped with a capstone and then surrounded by an outer circle of large boulders. The first burials here took place 5700 years ago and the monuments have of course been altered over time with stone taken away for use as building materials. For example, the dolmen that is Tomb 4 (left and top right photos below) had 21 stones in its surrounding circle in 1837 when a map was first drawn of the site, but today only one remains. At Tomb 3 (bottom right), a circle of 30 stones surrounds what was once a dolmen in the centre but the dolmen stones there are missing. Excavations in the centre of Tomb 3 uncovered thirty kilos of burnt human bones.

The cemetery complex is spread out over more than one square kilometre of a gently undulating plateau,

and the more than 30 burial sites are considered to be satellite tombs of a large central cairn, known as Listoghil, that dominates a high point in the landscape.

Early written accounts described Listoghil as a “disturbed cairn of loose stones” about 2.5 metres high. The cairn was excavated in 1996-1998 and then was restored to what was believed to have been its original profile, with the inner dolmen surrounded by 101 stones in its outer circle and then covered by a great flat-topped heap of smaller stones. The cairn is aligned East-South-East towards the rising sun at the start and end of winter.

I learned from the self-guided tour map, and the excellent museum on site, that Carrowmore is part of a even larger ceremonial landscape. The entire region is dotted with passage tomb sites. From one viewpoint at Carrowmore, the location of at least 50 sites are visible. For example, to the southwest, the Ballygawley Mountains have passage tombs visible on all four summits, and to the west (photo below) is Knocknarea Mountain which is topped with a large, never-excavated cairn named “Queen Maeve’s Tomb”. Also atop Knocknarea are the remains of several satellite tombs and of Neolithic hut sites. In a valley just visible to the south is the Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery where there are fourteen passage tombs, dated from 3500-2500 BC, as well as twelve more within a radius of six kilometres, and many of the Carrowkeel tombs were built with their entrances and passages oriented towards Knocknarea and Carrowmore.

Needless to say Carrowmore is a very atmospheric place, which poses more questions than it answers. Excavations of some of the tombs have yielded cremated human bones, pottery shards, antler pins, stone pendants, quartz stones, and arrowheads and flint scrapers. There is also evidence here of human activity during the Iron and Bronze Ages and the Roman era.

I loved the curves of the mown paths, the rippling of the wind through the meadow grasses, and the views of mountains all around. It was exciting to travel from tomb to tomb and learn a little about each, but then also just enjoy the shapes of the land, the circles of stones, the trees, and the clouds in the ever-changing sky. I didn’t want to leave!

A light rain eventually made the decision for me so I spent time in the small but excellent museum and then I caught a ride back to Sligo with a couple from Calgary who delivered me right to my accommodation. How kind! I had the entire Airbnb to myself as my host had gone to Dublin for work. I made lunch, did a load of laundry, had a rest, and then in the late afternoon I took a bus to the nearby seaside town of Strandhill which is known for its two magnificent dune-backed beaches and for surfing. A short walk from the bus stop, past Bnbs, pubs, restaurants, and gift shops, led me directly to a seawall with steps down to a fabulous, splashing, wind-driven sea.

There were beautiful beaches to either side and I asked a passerby which I should explore. She recommended that I turn left towards the large dune that gives the town its name, Strandhill, so that is what I did.

As I walked along the path, there were excellent views inland of Knocknarea Mountain, though Maeve’s Tomb was not visible from this angle. A trail that starts on the outskirts of the town climbs up through the section of forestry and then onto the mountain and along to the cairn. I decided that I would return the next morning to make the climb before travelling south, but in the end I woke to a rainy day and little energy so that hike will just have to wait for my next visit to Ireland.

I walked out onto the beach and along to where several surf classes were getting started,

and then I decided to explore the dunes but did so only briefly as I didn’t want to contribute to the erosion of the area. What ancient monuments and treasures might have been buried beneath these hills of sand over the millennia?

I returned to the beach, left my boots and socks near the surf school, and walked down the beach a long way, happy with the warm wind and the waves and the distant views of Benbulben Mountain. I was feeling a bit melancholy, knowing that my lovely trip to Ireland was coming to an end, but also profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have visited so many beautiful and historic places. Today alone I had walked through a modern town with medieval roots, explored an ancient site of human pilgrimage, life, death, and ceremony more than 5000 years old, and was now on a timeless shore with the sun and the wind and the forces of Mother Earth and Nature working their magic to constantly change our beautiful planet.

I love the photo above – the sky reflected in a retreat of water on sand – a moment caught, a view remembered, a mix of feelings captured that I can return to time and time again.