archaeological ireland

Dysert O'Dea is renowned for its wealth of historical and archelogical remains....

The 'Royal County' of Meath boasts a dramatic history and proud heritage that no other country can match. Man has settled here for over 8,000 years and everywhere one turns one can see surviving monuments and relics scattered profusely beside the rolling rivers and on the lush plains. Formerly one of the five historic provinces of Ireland, it was from here that the ancient roads of Ireland radiated, spreading Royal Meath's influence and affluence to all the corners of Ireland....

The most celebrated and dramatic site in the county. It was purchased by the state from the estate of Lord Congleton about four years ago, and taken into its care and protection. Its name is from Dun Masg "the fort of Masg". An important fortress before the Normans, it was granted to Strongbow in 1170 by Diarmait Mac Murchada as part of his daughter Aoife's dowry, and became the Normans' most important fortification. Wiliam Earl Marshall, the most famous and honourable Norman, lived here in t...

The museum is situated in an old school-house which can be dated back to 1875.  Local archaeology, natural history and history as well as periodic temporary exhibitions can be seen here....

Distributed over many acres and extending into adjoining townlands, Carrowmore represents the largest grouping of megalithic monuments in Ireland, and immense Neolithic burial ground where once there may have been more than a hundred tombs. Casual exploration in the last century and present day gravel quarrying in the vicinity have devalued the archaeological potential of the site; but it is still a rewarding place to visit, steeped in atmosphere and evoking a sense of the past.
The s...

The Great Heath of Maryborough is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. The place is of the battle of Cainthinc in the third-Century, the stone called Leac Reta where the seven cantreds of ancient Leix met, iron-age ring barrows, bronze-age cultivated ridges, Rath Shane, an annual ancient assembly called an oenach, nineteenth-century horse racing and manoeuvres of the Queen's County Militia. Today it includes a GAA complex and a golf club....

On display is an innovative permanent exhibition detailing the immense wealth of archaeological and historical interest to be found in Cong and it's environs, dating back to pre-historic times. The exhibition was compiled by leading archaeologist Michael Gibbons who has published a new historical guide and map covering the archaeology and history of Cong from 7,000BC up to the 19th century. Mr. Gibbons has previously lectured to the National Geography Society and the Smithsonian Institute in W...

Reached by a small by-road leading to a car-park, the King's stables is a mysterious place which must have played some ritual role within the landscape around the great royal site of Navan Fort, one mile to the east. It is a dangerous and steep-sided 10-foot-deep man-made pool surrounded by a bank, constructed sometime before 1000 B.C. its significance must lie in its water, as the prehistoric Celts are known to have practised a water cult. A brief excavation in 1975 revealed the front of a h...

Occupying a commanding hill-top overlooking islanded Lough Gill to the south and pretty Colgagh Lake to the west, this large and imposing monument is perhaps the best example of a centre court-tomb in the country. Its traditional name, by which it is still known hereabouts, is Leacht Con Mhic Ruis. The oval court, 50 feet in length with an entrance on the south side, has two segmented galleries at its east end and one at the west. In the last century all three galleries had large lintel stones...