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 queen-goddess with the power of conferring legitimacy on the tribal kings of ancient Ireland.
Caherconree Promontory Fort
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 of the prehistoric Iron Age. He has given his name both to the mountain and to the stone fort near its peak.
Kildare Round Tower
Kildare, Co. Kildare
Think of Ireland, and you’re likely to conjure first a shamrock, then perhaps a harp. Or a Guinness. But close behind the list of symbols that are forever Irish would be the iconic but enigmatic round tower, with its doorway positioned high off the ground.
Legananny Dolmen
Castlewellan, Co. Down
When a man-made structure has been a distinctive part of the local landscape for perhaps 4,500 years, it has earned its iconic status. The abstract qualities of this tomb make it stand out against the sky as a sculptural object, quite apart from the evocative power of its purpose and meaning.
Eightercua Alignment
Waterville, Co. Kerry
The Eighercua Stone Alignment looks west to Ballinskelligs Bay and the open ocean. The mound on which it sits was likely a ritual enclosure destroyed by road-builders more than a century ago, its meaning long forgotten.
Leacanabuaile and Cahergal Forts, Ballycarbery Castle
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 distance from the forts to the ruins of Ballycarbery castle is a short one also, as they are all reputed to be connected by underground passages.
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 and soon discovered the mouth of a “cave.” What he found was Ireland’s most significant archaeological treasure. Newgrange is one of the oldest buildings in the world.
Knocknafearbreaga Alignment
Knockanoura, Co. Clare
These are, in legend, a band of robbers turned to stone. As Mary Harrison explains, there was something so powerful about these stones that her frightened horses would not come near them.
St. Patrick’s Chair and Well
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 into Co. Tyrone.
Dún An Óir (Fort del Oro)
Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry
There is little left to see at Dún An Óir. The earthworks from the hastily-constructed 1580 fortification have been eroded by weather and waves. There is no evidence of the October day centuries ago when 600 people were slain on this spot.
Ballyfounder Rath (Tara Fort)
Portaferry, Co. Down
This monument, known locally as “Tara Fort,” sits on a prominent hilltop southeast of Portaferry, on Northern Ireland’s Ards Peninsula. Thomas McKeating claimed that "these fairies were supposed to be seen sittin’ underneath a tree, singin’ and playin’ their music."
Gallarus Oratory
Dingle, Co. Kerry
You can still feel the community pack
This place: it’s like going into a turfstack,
A core of old dark walled up with stone
A yard thick…
Seamus Heaney
“In Gallarus Oratory,” 1969
Myths and Megaliths
The ancient Irish made their mark on the land with great stone and earthen structures. The legends that developed were thought to be among the earliest voices from the dawn of western civilization.
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