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Sligo County
Contae Sligeach - "Abounding in Shells”
Mythical and still replete with the traces of an counties. From the summit you can see five counties as
ancient Ireland, Sligo is a county to be entered well as the miles of ocean that stretch out beyond Sligo
with an eye to wonder and a mind open to adventure. Bay.
Come to the land of Queen Maeve, a figure in Ireland’s Heading out of Sligo town towards Strandhill take the
famous tale of bravery and tragedy The Táin Bó R292 out and turn left at the crossroads 3 miles outside
Cúlaigne. Led by one of the few Irish towns to remain of town. Turning right at the second crossroads there is
under native Irish control right up until the 16th a car park on the right less than a mile along this road.
century, County Sligo has retained it’s wildness and From here you are on the south eastern slope of the
it’s sense of a living past. Today the stories of ancient Knowknarea mountain. On top you will find a cairn said
heroes are still on the lips of the local people. These to be the grave of Queen Maebh.
characters cannot be forgotton so large is their mark In Celtic stories, the place of Queen Maebh, a warrior
upon the landscape. While elsewhere in Europe, all queen was at Crúachain in Roscommon where she
traces of ancient megaliths, tombs and traces of another lived with her husband Ailill. Her part in the Táin Bo
civilization have perished to progress – in Ireland the Culaigne or Cattle Raid of Cooley is well documented.
memory and the spirit of another age is alive and well. According to folklore it is said that the Queens
And no where is this more apparant than in Sligo. Here remains lay buried in the inner chamber of the cairn
there is a greater concentration and a wider variety atop Knocknarae. Legend has it that she has not yet
of ancient archaeological sites than anywhere else in forgiven Ulster for not giving her the brown bull of her
Ireland. desiring but instead stands spear in hand, waiting for
Sligo is bordered by Mayo and Leitrim to the south, and her auspicious moment. She does not lie dead but is an
Donegal to the North. Sligo’s sheltered coastline opens active element of the place. An older tradition remember
out to the Bay of Donegal. It is said that in ancient times, Maebh as a goddess of the land alive in the lands fertility,
all of the county was under the sea so that even high up the red of the sunset and the rising of the moon.
in Sligo’s mountains, shells are to be found in abundance. The cairn itself is considered to be 6,000 years old and
You can even find rocks in the hills here full of petrified be an integral part of the Carrowkeel complex south east
coral and black rock full of small white stars which look of Knocknarae mountain in the Bricklieve Mountains.
like the sky at night. This is so as most of the cairns there have their entrances
Mesolithic remains have been found here in Sligo at facing Maebh’s cairn on Knocknarea.
Carrowmore, that are as much as 8,000 years old. Some It is fitting that fiery Queen Maebh is associated with
archaeologists have accepted a date of about 4,000 B.C. the colour red – the colour of the setting sun.
For these structures but that’s still about 1,000 years To the east of the country, Bóann and Newgrange is
before the Bru na Bóinne complex and Newgrange in associated with the white cow, colour of the dawn and
Co. Meath. This means that Brú na Bóinne is in fact not the rising sun.
the first passage tomb in Ireland- a well accepted fact Whatever you do in Sligo, soak up the atmosphere and
today. enjoy the fabulous Sunsets!
It is possible that these ancient peoples were the Fir Bolg, To learn more about the archaeological sites of this
bolg meaning “belly” is of course an attribute of the region visit
Goddess. For the Fir Bolg it is concievable that Sligo Bay www.carrowkeel.com
provided an entry point into Ireland.
There is one walk that is well worth the effort. The cairn
on top of Knocknarae is visible from all five surrounding
Carrowmore
235
Contae Sligeach - "Abounding in Shells”
Mythical and still replete with the traces of an counties. From the summit you can see five counties as
ancient Ireland, Sligo is a county to be entered well as the miles of ocean that stretch out beyond Sligo
with an eye to wonder and a mind open to adventure. Bay.
Come to the land of Queen Maeve, a figure in Ireland’s Heading out of Sligo town towards Strandhill take the
famous tale of bravery and tragedy The Táin Bó R292 out and turn left at the crossroads 3 miles outside
Cúlaigne. Led by one of the few Irish towns to remain of town. Turning right at the second crossroads there is
under native Irish control right up until the 16th a car park on the right less than a mile along this road.
century, County Sligo has retained it’s wildness and From here you are on the south eastern slope of the
it’s sense of a living past. Today the stories of ancient Knowknarea mountain. On top you will find a cairn said
heroes are still on the lips of the local people. These to be the grave of Queen Maebh.
characters cannot be forgotton so large is their mark In Celtic stories, the place of Queen Maebh, a warrior
upon the landscape. While elsewhere in Europe, all queen was at Crúachain in Roscommon where she
traces of ancient megaliths, tombs and traces of another lived with her husband Ailill. Her part in the Táin Bo
civilization have perished to progress – in Ireland the Culaigne or Cattle Raid of Cooley is well documented.
memory and the spirit of another age is alive and well. According to folklore it is said that the Queens
And no where is this more apparant than in Sligo. Here remains lay buried in the inner chamber of the cairn
there is a greater concentration and a wider variety atop Knocknarae. Legend has it that she has not yet
of ancient archaeological sites than anywhere else in forgiven Ulster for not giving her the brown bull of her
Ireland. desiring but instead stands spear in hand, waiting for
Sligo is bordered by Mayo and Leitrim to the south, and her auspicious moment. She does not lie dead but is an
Donegal to the North. Sligo’s sheltered coastline opens active element of the place. An older tradition remember
out to the Bay of Donegal. It is said that in ancient times, Maebh as a goddess of the land alive in the lands fertility,
all of the county was under the sea so that even high up the red of the sunset and the rising of the moon.
in Sligo’s mountains, shells are to be found in abundance. The cairn itself is considered to be 6,000 years old and
You can even find rocks in the hills here full of petrified be an integral part of the Carrowkeel complex south east
coral and black rock full of small white stars which look of Knocknarae mountain in the Bricklieve Mountains.
like the sky at night. This is so as most of the cairns there have their entrances
Mesolithic remains have been found here in Sligo at facing Maebh’s cairn on Knocknarea.
Carrowmore, that are as much as 8,000 years old. Some It is fitting that fiery Queen Maebh is associated with
archaeologists have accepted a date of about 4,000 B.C. the colour red – the colour of the setting sun.
For these structures but that’s still about 1,000 years To the east of the country, Bóann and Newgrange is
before the Bru na Bóinne complex and Newgrange in associated with the white cow, colour of the dawn and
Co. Meath. This means that Brú na Bóinne is in fact not the rising sun.
the first passage tomb in Ireland- a well accepted fact Whatever you do in Sligo, soak up the atmosphere and
today. enjoy the fabulous Sunsets!
It is possible that these ancient peoples were the Fir Bolg, To learn more about the archaeological sites of this
bolg meaning “belly” is of course an attribute of the region visit
Goddess. For the Fir Bolg it is concievable that Sligo Bay www.carrowkeel.com
provided an entry point into Ireland.
There is one walk that is well worth the effort. The cairn
on top of Knocknarae is visible from all five surrounding
Carrowmore
235
