PREHISTORIC IRELAND
Ireland is so rich in prehistoric monuments because until recently it remained a rural economy. Writing in l891 William Wakeman itemised what he called the Pagan (ie prehistoric) monuments – “cromleacs, cairns, stone circles, pillar stones, tumuli, duns, raths, forts, rock markings, &c… found in considerable numbers particularly in the more remote parts of the kingdom, where, from the thinness of the population, and the absence of any modern improvement, they have been suffered to remain unmolested, save by the hand of time.”
For the English enthusiast, used to seeing the remains of long barrows ploughed into nothing, or boundary stones thrown forgotten into the hedge, Ireland is a feast. For those who love stone circles County Cork is amazing. There are eighty six stone circles in the county, a huge proportion of the 145 stone circles found in Ireland.
In 2000 I went to there and photographed about eight of them, and caught a far off glimpse of about six more. The difficulty is two fold - finding them on the ground in the first place and then getting permission to look at them. You will need two essential books - A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany by Aubrey Burl and The Stone Circles of Cork and Kerry by Jack Roberts (Bandia), both booklet and map. The latter can be bought at the Clonalkily tourist office. I have labeled my photographs with the numbers given in these two books.
Rock art is another wonderful experience in Ireland. Start with the great tombs of the Boyne valley in County Meath. The visitor centre with its buses is a pain, but a well designed one – unlike the shocking conditions at Stonehenge. Then visit Loughcrew, high up on its lonely hillside. Another joy in Ireland is just turning off the main routes to visit the various prehistoric tombs. These come in four main styles – described in Irish Megalithic Tombs by Elizabeth Shee Twohig.
The court tombs are long rectangular or trapezoidal cairns with a so called “court” area in the front. This is not unlike the area found between the two horns of a Cotswold long barrow (compare Belas Knapp in Gloucestershire). Pottery and finds have been dated to about 3800-3400 BC.
Portal tombs, also found in England and Wales (look at my Welsh pages), are the ones with a gigantic dolmen on top and three or more supporting megaliths. They were buried or half buried in earth originally. The burial chamber is directly under the dolmen without a preceding passage. There are 180 recorded in Ireland and usually dated to about 3800-3200 BC.
The great tombs of New Grange, Knowth and Dowth are passage tombs. Like many of the tombs of Jersey (compare La Hougue Bie), these have a passage leading into a burial chamber. Sometimes there is just a simple single chamber, sometimes four or even more. Inside are decorated megaliths. There are 236 recorded which are usually dated to around 3500-3000 BC.
Wedge tombs, sometimes also called gallery graves (compare Le Couperin in Jersey). The name comes from the fact that most of them are wider and higher at one end (usually the western end). There are about 540 recorded tombs and they are usually dated to 2000 BC.