Archaeological sites Ireland

Necropolis of the Boyne Valley, Newgrange is certainly the most famous, most frequented and most impressive. It is one of the most beautiful corridors in the corridor (or «tomb pass») - a grave consisting of a long corridor and a burial chamber, covered with a tumulus - from all over Western Europe. The date (carbon 14) of Newgrange located its construction around 3,200 BC, thus prior to the construction of the pyramids of Egypt or the erection of Stonehenge…

When you arrive on the site, after a short minibus journey from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Center, a massive butte comes into the hilly landscape of the Boyne, like a wave of green land. You are facing the mythical tomb of Newgrange.

Surrounded by a circle of 97 monoliths, a long 19-meter corridor leads to the three alcoves of the funeral chamber where, according to the current state of the hypotheses, the ashes of four or five people were buried. The entrance of the corridor is championed by a spectacular monolithic stone, beautifully engraved with spiral motifs, whose meaning remains unexplained today. Inside, several stones, either hidden or visible, are engraved with simple motifs: triangles, lodges, spiral. The roof of the room (6 meters high) is beautifully built to the point that there is no water infiltration through gutters drawn in stone.

The mystery of the winter solstice. In the enclosure's enclosure, a cavity lets you pass a radius of light on December 21, which will illuminate, for that day alone the solstice, the corridor from a small opening at the top of the entrance and the room. This discovery was due to Professor M.J.O 'Kelly who began excavations in Newgrange between 1962 and 1975. But how can we explain such astronomical precision so many millennia ago? A mystery among many others in this intriguing valley around the Boyne…

From Carrowmore, we guess the tumulus of Knocknarea, whose legend wants him to be the gigantic tomb of Queen Maeve. The team of Swedish archeologists who took care of the Carrowmore site thought that this construction was going back to 3000 BC and that the tumulus could conceal a corridor passage. In any case, the air we receive from the top of these 300 meters is a high spirituality (the ascension lasts three good hours of hour from the parking lot).

Knowth is the site of a tomb in corridor dating from Neolithic, belonging to the spectacular archeological complex of Brú na Bóinne. Although less famous than its neighbor Newgrange, with a few scraps, the Knowth site is to be discovered absolutely. His visit promises a journey in the past, through the ancestral culture of Ireland.

The main corridor dolmen houses two burial chambers located back and after two corridors of 34 and 40 m. The main tumulus is surrounded by another 18 dolmens in the corridor, with a smaller size… Which is the most fascinating in this site, it is the continuous succession "dwellings" of the neat period olithic (from 3,000 to 2,000 BC) to the occupation of Normandy (twelfth century). Thus, from the Christian period, from the I to XII centuries, the summit of the main tumulus served as a base of habitation: houses were built there. This passage, this geologic layer giving a vertical reading of history (first burial chamber, then Christian dwelling and Norman) is not without behaving, all the more so because the graveled stones surrounding this main tumulus bear the fingerprints of these different periods: spirals, hollows, neolithic circles to the figurative attempts of fish of the Christian era… While the site of Newgrange pays tribute to the Sun, Knowth, he, with his lunar cards engraved in stone, is dedicated to the Moon.

In the Boyne Valley, Dowth is a Neolithic (5,000-year-old) Neolithic (5,000-year-old) Neolithic slope, part of the Brú na Bóinne archeological complex, which comprises three major graves: Dowth, Newgrange and Knowth. Smaller and narrower than its neighbors, Dowth's tomb reaches 90 meters in diameter. In the state of searches, public access is prohibited.

On the N 15 north of Cliffony. Bus Eireann will table you not far from the site. At the edge of the Yeats country (unfortunately, a little along the road), the court cairn in Creevikee (3000 BC) is undoubtedly one of the most impressive - and best preserved - of northern Ireland. The court, with ritual function, traces a broad circle surrounded by stones. The entrance of the house of burial is preceded by a porte door, leading to a corridor that leads to the bedroom itself, marked by two megaliths. Behind this main chamber, two other couloir are arranged, back-to-back, proof of the practice of communal burial. A wonder!

This archaeological site houses the largest and most impressive Neolithic monument in Europe. You will see the remains of homes and tombs dating back to 5 000 years ago. Furthermore, the wild flora of the wetlands surrounding the site is very interesting.

A small forest path leads to Giant's Grave, a beautiful Neolithic tomb (couloir tumulus) that could be that of a giant lost in full nature. This mound appears to cover two burial chambers. The stone of the main tomb is deeply festivity.

The region of Rosscarbery has many megalithic tombs and stone circles in the countryside; Drombeg Stone Circle is the most famous. Also known as the «Druid Altar», this circle of thirteen impressive megaliths dates from 945 B.C.A beautiful archeological site filled with mysteries!

Monaghan County has several Bronze Age megalithic sites, including the well-preserved circular triple-walled fort of Tullyrain near Shantonagh in the south of the county.

Grange Stone Circle is quite simply the largest stone circle in Ireland (with a total of 113 stones and a diameter of no less than 45 metres). This prehistoric gathering place is around 4,000 years old. This cromlech, near Lough Gur lake, dates back to the Neolithic, according to specialists. Located south of Limerick, not far from Bruff, on the road to Kilmallock, Grange Stone is a great idea for an excursion, with a site that nestles in an idyllic setting not often visited by tourists. Admission is free and the surroundings are perfect for a picnic. Think before you go!

In the city itself (follow the Stone Circle panel) on a mound on the edge of the river, a perfect stone circle (3000 BC) squeezing a dolmen.