Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

On Thursday I went to Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. It’s somewhere I’ve been meaning to go for ages but never got around to it.

This is the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland and is also among the country’s oldest, with monuments ranging from five and a half thousand to six and a half thousand years old.

The centre is open from 10am-5pm from the beginning of April to the beginning of October. It costs 3 euro per adult. On arrival I was offered a laminated guide sheet but just to let you know you have to leave a deposit or some form of I.D. which is held onto until you return the sheet. There were meant to be guided tours available but I wasn’t told anything about them at the centre.

It really is a very peaceful place to visit. Apart from the tombs I also saw a wild rabbit, wild garlic, bluebells and cows. There were a few other visitors but the site is so large I only saw them in the distance.

From the site you can see Knocknarea and Benbulben mountains. I went the wrong way around the site and crossed the road first to see the most impressive dolmen. Mainly because I thought it was going to rain and wanted to take photos. Luckily there was only one small shower.

The photo above is of Knocknarea taken from inside a dolmen. Most of the burials at Carrowmore appear to have been cremations.

Listoghil is the large central cairn in Carrowmore. You can walk into the cairn and see the central chamber. It’s interesting because it’s a smaller version of the cairn on Knocknarea.

After I walked around the site I went back into the visitor centre and had a look around. It’s small but very good at explaining all about the stones and their history, also how the people would have lived.

I really enjoyed my visit to Carrowmore. I think it would be even better for visitors if there was a vending machine or somewhere to get a tea or coffee.