hills historical ireland

Gurtagarry Hill (461m) and Knockanora(431m), with its conical summit capped by remains of a cairn, lie left of the Bit....

Approximately 5 miles (8 kms) north of the entrance gates to Slane Castle on the Carrickmacross road, near Lobinstown, this hill dominates the surrounding countryside. The site has many prehistoric remains, among them the outline of houses associated with 4th-century neolithic farmers. There are at least thirty other prehistoric monuments including ring forts in the district (the most prominent called the 'Cup and Saucer' can be seen on an adjoining hill). The spectacular views may explain the p...

(Cnoc an Chrochaire), the Hangman's Hill, is so called from an elevated mound east of the village, which was once a place of execution. The village was once noted for the manufacture of clay pipes from clay imported from England....

A mound rising over 60 feet high that is said to be the birthplace of the legendary hero Cuchulain.. On the summit is the ruin of a house built in 1780.....

Knockninny Hill is a striking feature on the upper lake. The hill is a well known beauty spot and although only 600ft high, there is a fine view of the islands from the top (3 miles north of Derrylin)...

Dating to the 3rd millennium B.C., the site is known in Irish as Sliabh na Caillighe - 'the Hill of the Witch', legend declaring that the mounds and cairns were created by an over-flying witch dropping pebbles on the landscape. The view from atop the hills is one of subtle and varied contrasts, the rolling fertile lands of Meath stretching to the south and east, the lakelands and expansive flat plains of Cavan and the Midlands seemingly limitless as they spread towards the Shannon....

Overlooking the town of Athboy is the Hill of Ward where the great Celtic Feast of Samhain (1st November) took place every year. Although the annals record the feast was held as late as 1168 (when the last Gaelic High-King of Ireland, Rory O'Connor, presided), it was in pagan times that the celebrations were at their wildest with the druids offering sacrifices and burning victims on Samhain eve.

To this day the feast of Hallowe'en is celebrated all over Ireland on the night of th...

About 2 miles (3 km) north of Enniskerry, the main road to Dublin passes through the Scalp - a spectacular rocky defile rising steeply on either side of the road, with huge granite boulders strewn about in wild confusion. It is a good example of a 'dry gap' formed at the end of the Ice Age when streams from glaciers cut deep drainage channels....

Knockmany Hill, 2 miles north west of Augher, si topped by a large passage grave with stones incised with swirling patterns. The spiral motives are similar to those at Newgrange in County Meath. A cairn was built over the top in 1959 to protect the Knockmany grave, which appears above ground in old photographs. To get inside the tomb, ask at the ranger's house at the forest entrance, though there is a general view of the stones through an iron grid. The mythological mother goddess Aine, loved by...

The chief crowning place of the O'Neills, from the early twelfth to the seventeeth century was 2 miles outside Cookstown at Tullaghoge, headquarters of the O'Hagans, chief justices of Tyrone. There is a fine view of the old kingdom of Tyrone from the top of this tree ringed hill. The circular graveyard nearby, with a wall round it, was the O'Hagan burial place.

During the ceremony the King elect sat on a stone inaugration chair, new sandals were placed on his feet, the assembled chiefs c...