Gortnahoula Court Tomb

Gortnahoula Court Tomb

Gortnahoula Court Tomb, Co Sligo, Ireland

Gortnahoula Court Tomb
Gortnahoula Court Tomb

Much of the site is buried under the peat with the other stones obscured by tall reeds

Carrowntemple Grave Slabs

Carrowntemple grave slab No. 10

Slab No.10, Carrowntemple Grave Slabs, Co Sligo, Ireland

West face of slab No.10, Carrowntemple

West face of slab No.10, Carrowntemple

Carrowntemple slab No.3, elaborate triskele within a rough circle

Carrowntemple slab No.3, elaborate triskele within a rough circle

Carrowntemple slab No.4, double-band ellipses and circles

Carrowntemple slab No.4, double-band ellipses and circles

Carrowntemple slab No. 8, maze pattern

Carrowntemple slab No. 8, maze pattern

Carrowntemple slab No. 1, single-line cross with rounded expanded terminals

Carrowntemple slab No. 1, single-line cross with rounded expanded terminals

Carrowntemple slab No. 12, single liner cross

Carrowntemple slab No. 12, single liner cross. All the slabs are replicas (by Cillian Rogers) with the originals in safe keeping

Doon Standing Stone

Doon Standing Stone
Doon Standing Stone, Co Sligo, Ireland

Doon Standing Stone
The same stone… in the next field there is another Standing Stone but local flooding prevented approach

Drumcliff High Cross

Drumcliff High Cross
Drumcliff High Cross, Co Sligo, Ireland

Drumcliff High Cross
West face of the 9th-10th-century high cross at Drumcliff

Drumcliff High Cross

Drumcliff High Cross
Drumcliff High Cross with the shaft of another high cross and ruin of the round tower in the background

Gleniff Horseshoe

Gleniff horseshoe cliffs
Gleniff Horseshoe, a scenic six-mile loop near Cliffoney, Co Sligo, Ireland

Gleniff horseshoe cliffs
A view of the Cliffs on the drive

Cottage ruin
Gleniff horseshoe cottage ruin

Gleniff waterfall
Small waterfall at the old mill ruins

Gleniff wood sculpture
Wood sculpture at the old mill ruins

Gleniff wood sculpture
More oddities

Caves of Kesh

Caves of Kesh
Caves of Kesh, Keshcorran, Sligo, Ireland

Kesh Caves
In Irish mythology the caves of Kesh were believed to be an entrance to the the Otherworld. One story tells how, when on a hunt, Fionn mac Cumhaill, head of the Fianna, was put under enchantment by three witches along with a troop of his men. The witches were the daughters of Conaran of the supernatural race Tuatha de Danaan who ruled in the underworld of Keshcorran. As the witches prepared to kill their captives the last of the hunting party Goll mac Morna encounters them and in a hard fought engagement slices in half two witches then beheads them and gets the better of the third putting her into bondage. In exchange for her life she agrees to dissolve the enchantment on Fionn and his Fianna. Diarmuid and Gráinne are also said to have sought refuge in the caves as the lovers evade Fionn mac Cumhaill who Gráinne had been betrothed to. Another story tells how the high king of Ireland Cormac mac Airt was born at the foot of Keshcorran and reared by a she-wolf with her cubs in the caves.

Keshcorran

Caves of Kesh

Caves of Kesh

Caves of Kesh

Ballindoon Abbey (Priory)

Ballindoon Abbey aka St Mary's Priory
Ballindoon Abbey – the ruin of a Dominican Priory, aka St Mary’s Priory

Ballindoon Abbey aka St Mary's Priory

Ballindoon Abbey - Dominican Priory
Ballindoon Abbey overlooking Lough Arrow, Co Sligo, Ireland

Carrowkeel Cairns

Carrowkeel megalithic complex on the summits of the Bricklieve Mountains comprised of fourteen passage tombs from 3400 to 3100 BC

Carrowkeel Cairn G

Carrowkeel Cairn G aligns with sunset on the summer solstice

Carrowkeel Cairn G

Lightbox above the entrance of Carrowkeel Cairn G which aligns with sunset on the summer solstice.

 Carrowkeel Cairn G

Carrowkeel Cairn G inside the chamber

Carrowkeel Cairn H
Carrowkeel Cairn H also aligns with sunset on the summer solstice

Carrowkeel Cairn H
Carrowkeel Cairn H

Carrowkeel Cairn H entrance
Carrowkeel Cairn H the entrance

Carrowkeel Cairn K
Carrowkeel Cairn K

Carrowkeel Cairn K entrance
Carrowkeel Cairn K the entrance

Rosses Point

Waiting on shore - statue
Waiting on shore – statue, Rosses Point, Co Sligo, Ireland

Waiting on shore - statue

Rosses Point Buoy
Rosses Point – Buoy

Rosses Point Pilot House
Rosses Point – River Pilot Watch House

Drumcliff (Drumcliffe)

Drumcliff: Round Tower, High Cross, St Columba’s church and WB Yeats grave
Drumcliff Round Tower
Drumcliff Round Tower, Co. Sligo, Ireland (10th-century)

Drumcliff Round Tower

There is a megalithic tomb a short distance from the round tower across the Drumcliff River called Coolbeg Wedge Tomb

Drumcliff Round Tower

Drumcliff High Cross
East face of the 9th-10th-century high cross

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West face of the 9th-10th-century high cross at Drumcliff

Drumcliff Church
St Columba’s, Drumcliff – burial place of WB Yeats

Drumcliff Church doors
Doors of St Columba’s Church emblazoned with bronze swans

WB Yeats Grave
The grave of WB Yeats at Drumcliff

WB Yeats Grave
The grave of William Butler Yeats with Benbulben Mountain in the background

WB Yeats sculpture
Bronze and stone sculpture featuring the words of WB Yeats by sculptor Jackie McKenna.

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W B Yeats

Near the graveyard at St Columba’s, Drumcliff, Sligo, Ireland, the burial place of Yeats.

Carrowmore Megalithic Complex

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Carrowmore Tomb 57

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Carrowmore Tomb 13

carrowmore-tomb-7-5

Carrowmore Tomb 7 looking west, with Knocknarea and Maebh’s cairn in the background

carrowmore-tomb-7-3

Carrowmore Tomb 7, said to be the most photographed tomb in the Carowmore megalithic complex

carrowmore-tomb-7-1

Carrowmore tomb 7, a dolmen (Portal Tomb) enclosed by stone circle

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Carrowmore Tomb 7

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Carrowmore tomb 4 with tomb 57 in the background

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Carrowmore tomb 4

Carrowmore tomb 4 (2)

Carrowmore tomb 4

Carrowmore tomb 4 (1)

Carrowmore tomb 4

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Carrowmore tomb 1

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Carrowmore Listoghill (tomb 51) and Tomb 52

Creevykeel Court Tomb

Creevykeel Court Tomb 4

Creevykeel Court Tomb, Co. Sligo, Ireland. The entrance to the first chamber

Creevykeel Court Tomb 5

The gallery divided into two chambers.

Creevykeel Court Tomb 3

The remains of a kiln from early christian times when the court was reused by iron smelters can be seen to the right of the chamber entrance

Creevykeel Court Tomb 1

Entrance to Creevykeel Court Tomb