hills historical ireland

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...

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....

This tall mound, planted with conifers, looks like a Norman motte without a bailey. it is likely to be one of the numerous earthworks erected by the Anglo-Normans between 1177 and the mid 13th century to keep a tight hold on the lands they conquered in Co. Down. As the name Shandon is derived from the Irish words 'old fort', it is possible that the mound was built on the site of an earlier Irish fortification....

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...

Famous as the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, the Hill of Tara has been an important site since the Stone Age, when a passage tomb was constructed. Tara was a political and religious centre in early Christian times and though it declined in importance as Christianity spread in Ireland, the site still retains its air of mysticism.
Today the ruins are sadly deserted, poignant reminders of what once was, but from atop the hill the visitor can still experience some of the magic which fi...

Half-way between Navan and Kells (N3) rises the Hill of Tailte, where the famous annual Tailtean Games and Fair of ancient Ireland were held. Established by King Lugh Lamhfhada (Lugh Long-hand) and named in honour of his step-mother, Tailte (daughter of the King of Spain and wife of Eochaidh, last of the Kings of Firbolgs), the Tailteann celebrations were amongst the great ceremonial occasions of pagan Ireland. Held in ceremonial fashion for the last time in 1168 under Roderick O'Connor, the las...

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.....