Carrowkeel Cemetery

Carrowkeel is a beautifully situated megalithic hill top passage tomb cemetery, Consisting of 14 passage cairns identified with letters, most of the cairns are round except cairn E which is a long oval shape and consists of a court tomb forecourt and cruciform passage grave. Top left is cairn G with H and K in the background, below that is the partly collapsed cairn H, underneath that is the entrance to cairn K, Cairns G and K have classic cruciform shaped chambers with intact dry-stone corbelled roofs.
The Tombs were built between 3000-2000 B.C. The bottom picture shows some 50 circular stone foundations, which are the remains of a pre-historic village, which may have been inhabited by the people who built the cairns. For a comprehensive guide to the Carrowkeel Cairns visit Martin Byrnes excellent site TheSacred Island. Martin is also a tour guide and can be contacted at the above site.

Situated: About 10 miles north of Boyle on the N4, is the village of Castlebaldwin, from there head west into the Bricklieve mountains, following the signs for Carrowkeel Passage Tombs. Turn left at the sign for the donkey sanctuary, and then first right, park here. A 30 minute walk brings you to the cemetery.

Discovery Map 25: 11 75.

Accommodation: Grannys Cyber Cottage. An idyllic cottage situated east of loch Arrow. I have rented this cottage myself on a number of occasions and it is ideally situated for megalithic enthusiasts wishing to visit Carrowkeel, Labby Rock, Moytirra East and Heapstown Cairn. These are just a few of the sites within 10 kilometres.

Click on Pics for higher resolution image. Photos: Jim Dempsey.

 

Previous-----Home-----Next Page