Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery by Ann Treacy

July 4, 2009, 9:28 pm
Filed under: Sligo

Carrowmore is the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland. The tombs are 5000 years old. Can you imagine that?

The tombs would remind you of New Grange. OK I know that not everyone reading this will have been to New Grane – but it is better known.

Some of the tombs were dolmens – which is a fair simply structure similar to a slanty table.
There are 4-5 legs and a large, flat stone lain across them. It’s amazing to think of how they could get such large stone to form any kind of structure back then. Pretty much you’d want to be start your tomb as soon as you could walk!

Some tombs or structures were more just rocks placed into a position such as a circle – like a giant clock with a diameter of 15-20 feet.

One tomb, which may have been recreated was a lot more like New Grange. It looked like a huge mound of rocks from one side – but from the other you could see (and walk) into the tomb to see a huge dolmen.

So the tombs and structures were pretty cool up close. An added cool aspect was how the structures lined up with the surrounding mountains. Many of the mountain (such as Knocknarea) also have tombs on them and the tombs seemed to line up in all directions.

One of the guides noted that tombs may have been used (in a later day) as marketplace centers. Because especially when the entire countryside was covered with forests, the tombs were easily seen from a distance.

The girls were moderately impressed though I must admit visiting Carrowmore wasn’t the first thing we had done that day. What they did enjoy was the bull that seemed to protect the final dolmen. We started into a field to take a look at the dolmen that was “just a little further” and what we had written off as a cow kind of sauntered up into full height and horns and just looked at us in a “make my day” kind of way – saving the girls a walk there and back.