In May I returned to Ireland. The trip began appropriately enough with Customs drama at the airport. But nothing could rain on my parade! Carole and Fidelma were there waiting for me. And after minimal fuss, all was well. I was determined to cram as much into my time there as possible. And so gathering together our books, maps, and cameras, we were off!
Ballybrack dolmen
Neolithic monuments can be found all over, not just in the countryside. This sweet little dolmen finds itself in the middle of the Ballybrack housing estate, just south of Dublin.
Kiltiernan dolmen
It was a beautiful day and I was so happy to be back with my pals exploring the countryside.
The Kiltiernan dolmen dates from 2500 BC and has the second heaviest capstone in Ireland.
Brown’s Hill dolmen
This dolmen’s capstone is thought to be the heaviest in Europe and dates to between 4000-3000 BC.
Kilmogue dolmen
After a look around the monastery of St. Mullins, we found our way to this beauty.
The Kilmogue dolmen is one of my favorites because it looks like some kind of giant insect. Also known as the Harristown dolmen.
Labbacallee wedge tomb
We next tracked down the Labbacallee wedge tomb. Labbacallee means Bed of the Hag.
These monuments were built long before the Celts arrived in Ireland, so this name was given by people with no idea why (or even how) it was built. We were joined by a friendly local man who said he was the overseer and told us all about it.
After that, we visited the Knockdrum Stone Fort. This does come from the Celts, although it’s likely they reinforced an older structure they found there. Today it’s the ruins of a stone ringfort on top of a hill looking out over the ocean. Gorgeous view. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any decent pictures.
Drombeg stone circle
Wandering into County Cork, we visited the Drombeg stone circle.
This is another of the locations that predates the Celts and was later adopted by them for their own use. It was obviously meant for ritual gatherings. Near the stone circle is a large pit that served as a giant calderon for their celebrations: they’d fill it with water, toss in the meat and then heat the water by throwing in hot stones from the nearby fire pit.
This was my first visit to west Cork, which became one of my favorite places in Eire. The land is rocky and the coastline is ragged and wild. We became friends with Noreen at our B&B in Castletownsend and returned many times over the years. She pointed us to many local attractions off the beaten path. Thanks to her, I became a big fan of the local authors Edith Somerville and Martin Ross, who wrote The Irish R.M.
Next we visited the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry. Although no megaliths were sighted this time, we had plenty of fun. We joined up with some other friends and rented a boat to swim with Fungi, a friendly wild dolphin. I squeezed into a wetsuit, and we took turns being towed on a surfboard.
Skellig Michael
Our next adventure took us out to the Skelligs, two isolated islands 12 miles off the coast. (The story of that boat trip we’ll save for another day.) You may know of them from the Star Wars movie. Early Christian monks came to live on the island in the 5th century, believing you could be closer to God in complete isolation and silence. They were there for over 600 years.
The monks chopped hundreds of steps into the stone of the breathtakingly steep cliffside. The rocky cliffs are full of birds’ nests. There are probably guardrails and warning signs posted all over now, but at the time one false step and you were on your way down.
The smaller island, Little Skellig, is a bird sanctuary not accessible to the public. Thousands of puffins nest here and raise their young. It was amazing watching the gannets divebomb fish under the surface of the water: wings folded, straight down like a missile, full speed, then popping up, fish in mouth.
The larger island, Skellig Michael, is where the monks lived in their little beehive huts, drystone structures made without mortar. The islands are basically big chunks of rock where a thin layer of soil has slowly accumulated over the centuries. They grew enough food to survive. There is no source of fresh water on the island, and so they had to collect rainwater. It’s an incredibly fragile little biosystem, and I hope the tourist trade is kept to a minimum.
Lough Gur, part 2
Driving north through Limerick, we stopped to explore this huge complex of megalithic monuments. Carole and I had checked it out in 1990. (Click here for that.) This place has a ton of monuments dating back to 3000 BC. The big stone circle is the largest in Ireland. It was pouring rain, so we did only a cursory inspection between squalls.
Ballyvaughan was our headquarters for explorations around County Clare. This area, called the Burren, is breathtaking: great sheets of broken rock blanketing the land right down to the sea.
Poulnabrone dolmen
Our first stop was the Poulnabrone dolmen.
I’d seen this one in 1990 when I was there with my husband, so click here for more info and pics.
Continuing north, we stopped to visit the home of one of my favorite poets, W.B. Yeats, called Thoor Ballylee. A few days later, we would drive round the lake that inspired one of his best-known poems The Lake Isle of Innisfree.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
Then we drove up to County Sligo. I’d been there the year before very briefly but had no idea that it too is an absolute gold mine of megalithic monuments. We were driving along near sunset looking for a B&B and all of a sudden I noticed we were passing huge stones all along the road, one after another. I couldn’t help shouting for joy, which alarmed my companions.
Digging around in maps and books, we spent the next few days exploring the many fantastic sites in the area.
Carrowmore complex
Knocknarea and Maeve’s Tomb
Sligo has lots of these big flat-topped mountains, the most famous of which is called Knocknarea. (I had trouble calling these mountains, coming from a place with “real” mountains, but I can’t really call them hills either. So when in Rome, etc.)
It is crowned with a mound called Maeve’s Tomb, another huge Neolithic cairn. Legend says it’s the grave of Maeve, queen of Connacht in Irish mythology. The only cairn larger is in the Boyne valley (Newgrange).
Bear in mind, every single stone in that mound had to be transported up the side of the mountain somehow. And this with only stone tools.
They say you can see five counties from the top of Knocknarea on a clear day. You’re supposed to bring a stone up to the top of Knocknarea to place on Maeve’s Tomb, so we did. Also Noel and Niall wanted us to know they were there too.
Creevykeel court cairn
Next up was a magnificent court cairn called Creevykeel.
You can clearly see the outline of the structure. Court cairns had a large forecourt that remained open, enclosing the entrance to the passage tomb under the cairn. The stones would have been heaped over to form a corbeled roof, then covered with earth and stone. All that has long ago disappeared, leaving only these remnants.
We then visited the Heapstown Cairn but I didn’t get any good pictures of it. Just a huge pile of rocks with lots of pretty lavender rhododendrons around it.
Carrowkeel complex
Next up was Carrowkeel. This complex was very ruined and in bad condition, but you could still make out the shapes. Again, high on a hill with a great view of Lough Arrow.
A cist grave would have been lined with huge stones and mounded over. In time all that’s left are the outlining slabs. This would have been the grave of a very important person.
Flaskagh More court cairn
Next was another ruined court cairn called Flaskagh More.
Drumanone dolmen
We were driving along a little lane trying to find the Drumanone dolmen and met a guy in a truck with a trailer. We asked directions. He said the rest of the way was on foot, and if we gave him a minute, he’d show us the way. We said sure. He proceeded to unload a bull from the trailer, explaining the bull was going to do the business with one of the cows in the adjoining field. We opened our maps, figuring it would be a while, but he was back before we finished our cigarettes. We had a laugh about how that bull wastes no time with romance.
We decided to spend our last couple days with our friends in Ballyvaughan, and headed south again. Along the way, we stopped to visit Ross Abbey, the ruins of a beautiful 15th-c. Franciscan friary. Ireland has more ruined abbeys and monasteries than you can shake a stick at. This one was closed but escaped destruction under the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In time the draconian Penal Laws of the 18th century killed it for good.
Carole pointed out a grassy mound behind the nave. It was said to contain the bones of all the old monks buried there — Oliver Cromwell’s men opened all the tombs and dumped the bones out the back door in a big pile. No one touched them and over the years they were covered with earth and debris. Carole had been there on a college field trip and she’d poked around with a stick and found a skull. She felt the place had a bad atmosphere, but I loved it.
It was nearing sunset and we sat watching some lambs frolicking just outside our car window for an hour. They were playing King of the Hill on a big rock. Then we went to have dinner and Carole had lamb with mint sauce.
The weather was awful in Ballyvaughan, so our explorations were limited. We did find a penal chapel. It was just a tiny little roofless structure heavily enclosed by thicket. Back when Catholicism was outlawed, some priests would find a hidden spot to say mass and hear confessions. We prowled around the Burren, visited the spa at Lisdoonvarna, looked at the music store in Doolin, and tried to stay out of the rain. Finally it was time to head back to Dublin.
Shanballyedmond court cairn
We did manage to squeeze in one last megalithic site: Shanballyedmond, another court cairn in Tipperary.
It was time to head back to Dublin and from there home. I was sad to say goodbye but I had a feeling I would be coming back, and that helped. This was such a wonderful visit. Even now, 30 years later, I feel so incredibly lucky and grateful. As I was packing up, we pretended I was going to shove Fidelma into my suitcase and sneak her back to America with me. Little did I know!
Click here for 1992 pix.