In 2008, Archaeologist Faith Bailey identified four possible boulder burial stones were identified on a north-facing slope in Kintogher townland, at the far end of the Branley’s Yard Nature Trail. Possibly dating to the middle to late Bronze Age, boulder burials consist of megalithic size stones set on top of three or four smaller supporting stone and three of the four boulder burials found here are of this nature. Two large standing stones were also identified in this area, the largest approximately 2.2m in height, the smaller 1.2m. Such burial sites are rare in this region and little is known about this particular site, which faces Benbulben mountain on land that, prior to land drainage and reclamation, would originally have formed part of the Drumcliffe Estuary shoreline.
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Drumcliffe Monastery
The monastery at Drumcliffe was in existence for almost a thousand years, from 575CE until the end of the 16th century. For most of this time, up until its dissolution, Drumcliffe was a Columban monastery. Plundered repeatedly He appointed St Thorian (Mothorain) to be the first abbot (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 34). The annals make…
Coolbeg Wedge Tomb
The Giant’s Grave Located at the end of a short trail at the rear of Yeats’ Tavern carpark, on privately owned land, are the remains of a large, man-made stone structure, or megalithic monument, approximately 4,000 years old. Coolbeg (Irish: An Chúil Bheag) wedge tomb, a National Monument known locally as the ‘Giants Grave’, consists of…
Rathcormac Fort
Situated on a ridgeline overlooking Rathcormac, on privately-owned farmland, is the large ráth, or ringfort, from which the village takes its name. Local folklore links this ráth to Cormac, a descendent of the legendary lovers Diarmuid and Gráinne who are associated in story with Benbulben and its wild boar. Though the date of this example…
The Round Tower
The stumped remains of an 11th century round tower, rising to a height of only nine metres, stands to the west of Drumcliffe Church, and the High Cross. The only example of a round tower to be found in Sligo, Drumcliffe Round Tower was originally a much taller structure, possibly up to 30 metres in…