The Loughcrew Cairns are a 5,000 year old passage tomb cemetery on the hills of County Meath, also known as Sliabh na Calliagh. Cairns crown the summits with carved chambers, wide views, and the famous equinox sunrise at Cairn T, making Loughcrew one of the most atmospheric prehistoric landscapes near the Boyne Valley.
Loughcrew Cairn T on Carnbane East.Together with Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange, Knowth & Dowth) and the Sligo complexes (Carrowkeel & Carrowmore), Loughcrew forms one of Ireland's three great concentrations of passage tombs. Its chambers hold an exceptional wealth of carved stone called megalithic art, and a rising sun alignment at Cairn T, linking hilltop monuments, horizons and the turning of the year.
Carved backstone inside Cairn T.
The cairns are spread across three hills, Carnbane East, Carnbane West and Patrickstown. The Irish name for the site is Sliabh na Calliagh or Slieve na Caillaigh, translated as the mountain of the hag or the Cailleach's hills. Local tradition says the monuments were made when the Cailleach leapt from hill to hill, dropping stones from her apron. If she completed a final leap, she would become mistress of all Ireland, instead she fell and was killed. The cairns themselves were built in the Neolithic, thousands of years before that story was written down, but the image of an elemental female figure carrying stone across the summits gives mythic form to the immense labor of building there.
There are about thirty passage tombs in the Loughcrew complex. Cairn T is the centerpiece on Carnbane East and Cairn L is the centerpiece on Carnbane West. Nearby cairns engage with other parts of the seasonal cycle, suggesting that the whole cemetery may have worked as a network of places, horizons, and moments of light. The cairns on Carnbane East are accessible to the public, however the cairns on Carnbane West are on private land and the landowner prohibits access.
The illumination of the passage and chamber at the winter solstice sunrise in Newgrange is world famous. Less well known is the equinox illumination at sunrise in Cairn T at Loughcrew. Around the equinoxes, rising sunlight travels along its passage and reaches a richly carved stone at the rear of the chamber. The beam is shaped by the entrance and passage stones and moves across the backstone, lighting circles, cup marks, radial designs, and other motifs. As the light shifts over the uneven surface, the megalithic art does not merely become visible, it changes from moment to moment.
From the front of Cairn T the view takes in distant landmarks such as the Hill of Slane and the Hill of Tara, and the passage faces the rising sun toward the east.
Equinox sunbeam in the chamber of Loughcrew Cairn T.In more recent centuries Loughcrew became the seat of a branch of the Norman-Irish Plunkett family, whose most famous member became the martyred St Oliver Plunkett. The family church stands in the grounds of Loughcrew Gardens which is open to the public. The Plunketts were dispossessed in the Cromwellian Settlement of 1652 when their estate at Loughcrew was assigned to the Naper Family who still farm the lands around Loughcrew.
The kerbstones of Loughcrew Cairn S. The stone mound that once covered the chamber is gone.Loughcrew Megalithic Cemetery is also known as Sliabh na Cailli or Slieve na Cailliagh - the Hill of the Hag, the Cairn of the Witch, the Mountain of the Sorceress, the Witches Hops - you get the idea.
Loughcrew, named after a local township, is one of the four largest megalithic cemeteries in Ireland. About thirty passage tombs, many with interior stone carvings, are spread over a ridge of three hills, along with other monuments such as stone circles, henges, standing stones, Iron Age forts and the remains of a cursus (a ceremonial entrance way).
The cairns are contemporary with Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth), having been constructed between 3500 and 3300 BCE, but they are much less reconstructed and have not been comprehensively excavated.
Loughcrew Megalithic Cemetery also known as Slieve na Cailliagh.Although far less famous than Brú na Bóinne, Loughcrew is equally impressive though for different reasons: the lack of touristic infrastructure, the number of cairns in proximity, and the stunning 360° views over undulating farmland and quiet lakes. On a private day tour we visit the Loughcrew hills and view the monuments from outside. The interior of Cairn T is currently closed for conservation work. It is still a very powerful place.
Spend a day immersed in Ireland's prehistoric landscape, with more time to appreciate ancient passage tombs, megalithic art, and quieter archaeological sites. Following official visits to Newgrange and Knowth, the day continues to monuments such as Dowth and Fourknocks. A custom private tour can also include the cairns at Loughcrew.
Price €700 for up to six guests, plus booking fees. Admission fees are extra.
The Loughcrew cairns are spread over Cairnbane (Carnbane) East (from carn, meaning pile or heap) and Cairnbane (Carnbane) West, the latter on private land. Cairnbane West includes cairns A through L; Cairnbane East includes cairns R through W. The interior passage graves are usually described as constructed of limestone, but their composition includes sandstone, a coarse greywacke called gritstone, and conglomerate; the stones were either left by glaciers or taken from local outcrops.
Cairn H on Cairnbane West has multiple spirals on a kerbstone; excavations discovered first-century CE Iron Age objects. Cairn L has five side chambers and an interior carved standing stone. Cairn L is oriented toward the Imbolc/Samhain sunrise (just like the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara). These cairns are not accessible to the public because the owner does not allow people on his land.
Cairn T, also known as The Hag's Cairn, is the largest on Cairnbane East. It is 37 m (120 feet) in diameter; its circumference is 113 m (369 feet); and it is oriented slightly south of east. When the chamber was open, a narrow passageway led to a 3 m (10 feet) high domed chamber with a corbelled roof and three side chambers, also with corbelled roofs. Fragments of charred bones, charcoal, and a bronze pin were found during the original excavation. Several of the interior stones in the passageway and in the inner chamber are decorated with geometric patterns, including circles and zigzags, and flower and sun motifs. From the summit, the open countryside becomes part of the monument itself. The interior of Cairn T is currently closed for conservation work.
Equinox sunrise gathering at Cairn T.Most impressive is the backstone of the rear chamber, which is lit by a beam of light during spring and fall equinox sunrises. On the north side of the mound is the Hag's Chair, a massive kerbstone shaped into a "chair." It has carvings on the front side, but they are barely discernible. A cross was carved into the "seat," perhaps in the eighteenth century, when it might have been used as an altar for holding secret outdoor masses during a time when public Catholic ritual was forbidden. The chair-like stone has been called Ollamh Fodhla's Seat, named after the mythic poet who was the first lawgiver of Ireland. It is also known as the Seat of the Cailleach, and folklore reports that you can sit there and make a wish-but only one. Traditions tell that Queen Tailte or Queen Medbhe (Maeve) sat on it and proclaimed laws, or that the old hag, the "Caillaigh Waura," sat on it.
The word "Cailleach" comes from "old veiled one": caille = veil or caul. Why veiled? She is veiled in mystery. The Cailleach was the ancient ancestral goddess found throughout Ireland and Scotland, and each tribe had its Cailleach. She was often associated with the Sovereignty of the land. She represented the dark side of the goddess, the side of death and rebirth, of transformation-and winter--in contrast to Brigid, goddess of healing, creative inspiration, eternal flame, and springtime. Her time is often said to begin at Samhain (November 1) and end on Imbolc (February 1), while Brigid rules the rest of the year. Numerous mountain ranges and large hills are said to have been formed when she accidentally dropped rocks out of her apron. She has similarities to the Hindu mother goddess Kali, another powerful transformative "dark" goddess. Medieval monks, who wrote down local stories, turned this powerful goddess of death and rebirth into a sad old hag. Later the word came to mean "nun": one who took the veil. And later still, it degenerated in common usage to mean "old bag."
For around 4,000 years the Cailleach, the winter earth goddess, has been associated with this hill, and that folklore still shapes how people experience the site. When the chamber was open, many visitors found the central chamber and side recesses especially atmospheric, and perhaps Cairn T felt "recharged" twice each year when the equinox beam entered. You do not need to follow any particular belief to sense why this place has drawn people for millennia. On a guided visit there is time to walk the hill, take in the cairns from outside, and let your driver-guide set Loughcrew in the wider story of the Boyne Valley.
Source: Powerful Places in Ireland
We spent a wonderful day with Michael touring the Boyne Valley. His passion for the area is obvious and we found it extremely informative. He is great at tailoring the tour to meet our needs. Read the full TripAdvisor review