Carrowkeel Megalithic Tombs

It was moving day today, and we never like moving day, especially when we are having to leave Co. Donegal.  What a wonderful place to spend a week, our only regret is that we did not have time to travel to the Inishowen Peninsula, the most northern area of Ireland (and north of Northern Ireland).

We stopped in at The Hatter Tea Shop to have a cappuccino since we didn’t bother with making tea this morning, as we had to pack and tidy up the cottage.  It is not necessary to clean prior to departure, but we always attempt to leave our accommodations as we found it or better.

Then it was on the road to the south to Co. Mayo.  However, since we had time, and since I really wanted to visit Carrowkeel in Co. Sligo, we veered slightly off our route to the east, and drove up some narrow roads to the tombs.

There are 14 passage tombs in the Bricklieve Mountains, and the Irish name, Breac sliabh, means speckled mountain.  Carrowkeel consists of four main tombs on one plateau, which is aligned to Knocknarea, the huge tomb we visited last week.

It is not obvious where one should park the car, so we carried on up a track that looked okay, we had to go through a gate and then there is another area that looks like a parking area.  However, the sign indicated that the tombs were 1 km away and then a car came driving down the terrible road, so we figured we could drive on.

After about .5km, the road deteriorated to an alarming degree, with huge potholes full of water and virtually zero clearance for a tiny car, so we opted to park in a grassy area and walk.  Just as we were about to walk up the road, a couple of Californians rocked up in their car and told us we could park at the top of the hill, we motioned toward our tiny car and told them we didn’t think so, and they agreed.

There are four main passage tombs that have been given the letters G, H, K, and L.  After a short walk up the track we ascended the hill to the tombs.  We just loved Carrowkeel, and it may just be our favourite of all the passage tombs we have visited.

Carrowkeel G & H

Cairn G has a roofbox, which is rare, as the only other tomb with a roofbox is Newgrange.  The roofbox on cairn G is aligned to the midsummer sunset.  There is a very tight entrance to this tomb and it has three side chambers off the main chamber and a wonderful corbelled ceiling.

John squeezing out of Cairn G

Cairn H is in a state of collapse and has a box cist in the centre

Cairn K has a wonderful 23 foot-long passage that is very small, so we had to crawl in.  Once inside, we were delighted with the tomb as it has a wonderful corbelled roof.  Cairn K is situated at the highest point on Carrowkeel and it is oriented to the cairn on Knocknarea.

Cairn K

Passage into Cairn K

Cairn K with another tomb in the distance

Cairn K passage is oriented toward Knocknarea

Cairn L is a tomb that has not been excavated.

Cairn L with Cairn K in the background

It started to rain as we walked back to the car, so we took off and drove a different route to get to a highway that would take us west, to Co. Mayo.  These tiny roads have blind corners and blind summits and they are single track, with only room for one car. We met a large SUV on a blind summit, so the driver of the SUV had to back down the road and get over into a small gateway, so we could squeeze by.

We drove on to Newport where we will be based for the next week.  After the owner let us into the cottage, we went into town to the butcher shop.

Ode to Irish Butchers

This is a very small town, but it supports two butcher shops and a grocery store.  The Irish butcher shops are out of this world, as they have a huge variety of fresh meat of every description and some ready-made meat items as well.

The old men that run the shops wear white garb, fedora type hats that have a coloured band and they wear striped aprons.  The younger men are dressed the same, but they don’t wear the hats.  We wanted some ground pork, the butcher said he would have to make some up, and I asked him if that was okay, he said yes and headed off to get a piece of pork, which he cut into chunks and then ground for us.  The quality is excellent, if you ever visit Ireland, don’t buy your meat at a supermarket.

Well, I guess we all know what day it is tomorrow, and that is a holiday in all of Ireland, we hope to take in at least one St. Patrick’s Day parade; there is a lot of green about the place.