Dunmore Cave, County Kilkenny

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Dunmore Cave is located approximately 11km north of Kilkenny City, near Castlecomer. The cave contains around 300m of known passages and caverns. In terms of geology, Dunmore Cave is a rare example of a cave that was formed directly by glacial meltwaters.

Although not a particularly large cave system, Dunmore has a number of great examples of calcite formations like stalagmites and stalactites. However my interest in the cave comes from its dark history.

Located in the north of County Kilkenny, in a region of the ancient Irish kingdom of Ossory, Dunmore Cave was situated right in the middle of a stomping ground between the Viking powerbases of Dublin, Waterford and Limerick. The Vikings of Ireland were not one people with a united ambition and government, but were instead rival powers who regularly came into conflict with one another.

The cave at Dunmore has a chilling story to tell. The Annals record that over 1,000 people were massacred here by the Vikings. It is said that the Vikings from Dublin were en route to attack rival Vikings at Waterford circa 928 AD. They raided the surrounding land and found that a large number of people (mainly women and children) were hiding in the cave at Dunmore.

In an attempt to drive them from the cave, they lit large fires hoping that it would force those taking shelter to flee the smoke so that they could be easily captured and sold in the slave markets. However the fires were too large and burned all the oxygen in the deep cave with many suffocating to death. Antiquarians in the 18th and 19th centuries collected large quantities of human remains from within the cave, presumably those of the poor people who were massacred in that raid.

It appears that some Vikings returned to the site later to conceal their wealth. In 1999, a small hoard of silver and copper-alloy items was discovered in a cleft deep in the cave. The hoard was dated to 970 AD. It consisted of silver ingots and conical buttons woven from fine silver.

These precious objects were found with a luxurious silk garment. The dye that coloured the garment purple was reserved for the highest ranking members of society, and it was derived from the purple murex snail that can only be found on the north coast of Africa, evidence of the incredible trading network of the Vikings. Perhaps the owner of the hoard concealed it there, hoping that the cave’s dark reputation would keep it from prying eyes, but they were never able to return to retrieve it. It is also possible that they left it as an offering to chthonic (subterranean) gods or spirits.

Today Dunmore Cave is a really rewarding place to visit with a fine visitor centre. You can enjoy great guided tours that inform you about the history, archaeology and geology of this fascinating site. You can find information about opening hours and entry fees by visiting here http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/south%2Deast/dunmorecave/.

If enjoy my blog and you'd like to support us try our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com and a number are absolutely free to download.

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All photographs © Neil Jackman /abartaaudioguides.com

Gaulstown Dolmen, County Waterford.

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There are over 170 dolmens (also known as portal tombs) recorded in Ireland. Geographically they are more common in the northern half of the island, with some clusters in the south-east and in the west. Gaulstown is one of ten examples in County Waterford. Portal tombs may be one of the earliest of Ireland’s megalithic tomb types, and a forerunner of the more complex court tombs. Typically a portal tomb is a simple chamber formed of upright stones, with a large capstone. The monument was then possibly covered with a cairn of small stones or a mound of earth.

The Gaulstown Dolmen dates to the Neolithic Period, likely to have been constructed some time around 3,500 BC.

 It is situated in a wonderfully atmospheric wooded glade at the base of a steep slope known locally as Cnoc na Cailligh (The Hill of the Hag). The stone to construct the tomb was locally sourced. Some subsidence of the tomb in recent years has been repaired with the addition of a concrete slab to ensure the structure is supported. Positioned close to the dolmen is the remains of another stone-lined prehistoric tomb known as a cist burial. These features generally date to the Bronze Age period. Its presence so close to the dolmen may suggest that the site continued to be an important spiritual place for millennia. 

The Gaulstown Dolmen really is one of the finest examples of a portal tomb in the region and well worth a trip. You’ll find the tomb roughly around 7km south-west of Waterford City. Follow the R680 from Waterford city towards Kilmeadan. At Tramore crossroads (signposted for Tramore) turn left onto the R682. Continue along this road, driving through the first set of crossroads until you reach a second set of crossroads. Turn right here and continue down this road (you will drive straight through another crossroads) and the site will be on your left. The tomb is signposted, but you can easily miss it as a large modern gate blocks the laneway to the site and makes it look like the entrance to a private residence. Please be careful not to block the gateway when you park your car to the side of the large gate. Access to the site is through a pedestrian entrance to the side of the gate, follow along the short path to find the site.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com. Try our latest guide for free; The Sligo Heritage Trail. Narrated by Sligo actor Ciarán McCauley and packed with facts, history and tales about Sligo through the centuries, it's an immersive way to enjoy the story of Sligo. 

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Killeshin, County Laois

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The remains of the monastic site at Killeshin really is one of Ireland's best hidden gems. It was originally founded in the sixth century by St. Dermot, but it was St. Comhdan who became the patron of the site.

Killeshin had a turbulent history with many accounts of raids by warring Irish tribes, particularly in the 11th century. It was plundered and demolished in 1041, and it is recorded that Diarmuid, son of Mael na mBó, was responsible. He was lord of the tribe known as the Ui Ceinnsealaigh who were mortal enemies of the Ui Bairrche tribe that held the lands around Killeshin. It is reputed that Diarmuid tore down or ‘broke’ the oratory on the site, killed over one hundred people and took hundreds more as slaves. More desecration was recorded in 1077, when the monastery was again raided and several yew trees were burned. This was a clear act of defiance and desecration as yew trees were often planted by monks to mark the sacred boundaries of monasteries. 

The church that can be seen on the site today was built on the site of the broken oratory. It was built in the twelfth century, in the Romanesque architectural style. Killeshin is one of Ireland's finest examples of this style of architecture which features rounded arches and highly decorated doorways. At Killeshin, the doorway is absolutely magnificent. There are four arches around the doorway featuring carvings of chrevron, zig-zag, animal and foliage design. The capitals of the arches have human faces carved on them with different expressions and some even beards on their faces. Some suggest that use of shallow carvings and different colour stone indicates that this doorway was probably painted. There are also two inscriptions carved into the doorway. One inscription is for Cellachan - who may have been the master stone mason or artist on the site. The other inscription refers to Diarmuid Mac Murrough, the King of Leinster from around 1126 to 1171. He is the man that is credited with inviting the Normans into Ireland. It has been suggested that the boundary between the two warring tribes, the Ui Bairrche and Ui Chennselaigh, was incorporated into a new diocese in 1152, and this may have prompted Diarmuid as the King over the entire province to commission this masterpiece of Irish craftsmanship and continental design. 

The chancel of the church, where the altar would have stood, was probably built years after the nave and doorway. The windows that can be seen in the wall of the chancel are ogee headed and this style was used in around the 15th and 16th centuries. A round tower once stood to the north west of the church. This round tower was probably constructed in the tenth or eleventh century. Round Towers were important status symbols for monasteries and would have been used as bell towers and look outs. The round tower at Killeshin was unfortunately pulled down in 1703  by Captain Wolseley. It was said that a local farmer was afraid that masonry from the tower might fall on his cows. The stone from the round tower was used to build houses in the locality. A medieval baptismal font can still be seen outside the wonderful doorway. 

Baptismal Font

When the Norman mercenaries came to Ireland to help Diarmuid Mac Murrough defeat his enemies, tracts of land throughout Leinster came into Norman ownership. When Diarmuid died shortly after the initial wave of Normans landed on the eastern shores of Ireland,  their leader, Richard de Clare, became the Lord of Leinster and he granted the lands around Killeshin to a loyal knight named de Clahull. He constructed a motte-and-bailey, and later a castle, in a field across the road from the monastery at Killeshin. Today there is no visible trace of that castle, but a flat mound can still be made out in the field where the castle would have once stood. The monastery at Killeshin became a parish church after the Norman conquest and it survived the Reformation, continuing in use up until the nineteenth century. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com. Discover more about the story of Killeshin and the other incredibly atmospheric ancient churches and monasteries of County Laois by downloading the free audioguide The Laois Monastic Trail  available from http://bit.ly/REEssb

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Derrynaflan, County Tipperary

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Derrynaflan, also known as Gobán Saor’s Island, is situated in the middle of Littleton bog in County Tipperary. The name derives from the Oak Wood of the Two Flanns, a reference to two prominent clerics who lived here during the ninth century. It has over a thousand years of history as an ecclesiastical settlement – from as far back as the early medieval period to the 1700s.

The site first appears in our historical records when a monastery was said to have been founded here by Saint Ruadhan of Lorrha in the sixth century. Derrynaflan reached its zenith in the eighth and ninth century, when it became home to the Celi Dé (or Culdee) movement. This Christian sect were noted for their very austere way of life.

Derrynaflan is reputed to be the burial place of An Gobán Saor (Gobán the builder), a famed architect, stonemason and builder of churches in Ireland in the decades around 600 AD. He is said to have been born near Malahide, Co Dublin in 560 AD. A wealth of folklore abounds concerning the life of An Gobán.

One tale tells how on one occasion he was building a monastery, and as he neared completion, the monks decided to lower his wages and cheat him of his dues. Gobán refused to negotiate, so the monks took away all his ladders and scaffolding until he agreed, leaving him trapped high on the building. This did not deter Gobán though, he simply began to throw down stone after stone of the building, saying it was an easy way as any to descend, the monks reluctantly relented and paid him the agreed fee.

The interior of the church

Another story concerns his shrewd wife Ruaidhseach. Gobán and his son were labouring for seven years to build a fine castle for a king. The wily king planned to have them killed when they finished it so they could not build as fine a fortress for any of his rivals. Gobán heard of his wicked plans and sent word to the king that he couldn’t finish the castle without a particular tool called a “crooked and straight”.

Bullaun Stone inside the church

The King, fearing treachery, would not allow Gobán and his son to leave to fetch the tool, so he sent his own son in their place. What the king did not guess, was that the ‘crooked and straight’ was actually a warning code for his wife, Ruaidhseach. When the Prince came demanding the ‘crooked and straight’ she told him it was at the bottom of a deep casket. When the Prince bent over to find it she quickly threw him in and sealed the casket, sending word to the King that if he wished to see his son again then he should release Gobán and her son which he promptly did. Three graveslabs on the eastern side of the island are said to mark the burial place of the Gobán and his family.

The land for Derrynaflan was probably granted by the powerful Eoganacht dynasty from their base in Cashel, however when the Eoganacht’s power began to wane by the end of the ninth century, the monastic community at Derrynaflan also went into decline.

The site was reinvigorated during the twelfth century, and the ruined church at Derrynaflan represents these two different periods. The small single-roomed church of the early medieval period was incorporated into a larger nave-and-chancel church in the twelfth century. This was a traditional layout during the medieval period, the chancel was the part of the church which housed the altar and where the priests, monks or clergy would have sat during mass, while the nave was for the common people. Outside the church you can see one wall of an enclosure nearby. A small Franciscan community continued largely unnoticed on the island between 1676 and 1717. This was during a period of suppression of the Catholic Church in Ireland, when the harsh Penal Laws held sway, following the Cromwellian Conquest and Williamite Wars.

In 1980 an incredible hoard of ecclesiastical metalwork was discovered nearby, including a beautiful silver chalice accompanied by a patten and wine strainer. These objects were thought to have been hidden for safekeeping sometime in the 9th or early 10th century, but never recovered. Perhaps the person who hid them was killed or captured in a raid by Vikings or Irish warriors from a rival tribe. These magnificent artefacts are now on display in the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street. 

The magnificent silver chalice of Derrynaflan

In recent years, life has begun to return to the old church site of Derrynaflan, as dawn mass on Easter Sunday morning on the island has become an annual event. To hear more of the story of Derrynaflan try our free MP3 audioguide, available from here. 

To get to Derrynaflan from the Laffansbridge direction, take the R691 at Laffansbridge. Turn left here (signposted for Cashel). After approx. 1.5 km turn right off this road onto the road signed L5402, which is a narrow third-class road. Follow this road for 2 km and then turn right (no signpost) on a laneway into the old village of Lurgoe, about 1km from Derrynaflan. It is possible to drive further from this point, but the laneways are narrow and unpaved and you will need to open and close several gates, so proceeding from here on foot is recommended. If you are at Horse & Jockey, just after the Hotel, turn left (signpost for Ballinure) and 200m down this road, take the second left junction. Continue along this road for 2.5 km. A laneway to the right leads towards Derrynaflan. It is recommended that you park here and proceed on foot southwards to Derrynaflan Island. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com.

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Ormond Castle, County Tipperary

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Ormond Castle in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, originally dates to the fourteenth century. It is named after the Butler family, a highly influential and powerful Norman dynasty who became Earls of Ormond. The progenitor of the family in Ireland was Theobald Walter who came to Ireland in the aftermath of the Norman Invasion in the late twelfth-century. He was rewarded for his service by being granted vast lands in the South-East of Ireland, particularly centred around Counties Tipperary, Kilkenny and parts of Waterford. He was also given the title Chief Butler of Ireland, who had the honour of personally serving the King on state occasions, and with this came the right to levy his own tax on all wine imports into Ireland – as the Normans were known to like a tipple this ensured that Theobald Walter and his successors became very wealthy indeed!

In 1315 Edmund FitzWalter (6th Chief Butler) was granted the Lordship and Manor of Carrick by King Edward II, and his son James made the advantageous marriage to Eleanor de Bohun, a granddaughter of the King. By the middle of the fourteenth century, the Butlers were Earls of Ormond and had cemented their position as one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in Ireland.

The castle at Carrick-on-Suir is thought to have an early origin, but the remains visible today largely date to later than the fourteenth century. In the grounds you can see the ruins of a medieval bawn (a fortified walled enclosure), with two tall fourteenth or fifteenth century towers. One of the towers is in ruins, while the other tower (thought to be the earliest of the two) is still well-preserved. If you look closely at the ruined tower you can still see features like the ornate fireplace that probably dates to the fifteenth or early sixteenth century [a noisy family of ravens have made one of these towers their home, and their calls certainly add atmosphere to the site]. Other buildings in the area exist only at foundation level, though it is possible to see the remains of the large bricked up Water Gate in the exterior wall. In the medieval period, the River Suir flowed at the base of the castle walls, and the River Gate allowed goods and people to be transported easily up and down the River to the other major centres nearby at Cahir, Clonmel and Waterford.

The Tudor Period was a turbulent time in Irish history. An uprising by the Butler’s long time rivals, The Fitzgeralds, had just been defeated, and King Henry VIII had become the first English Monarch to declare himself ‘King of Ireland’. He began a process of plantations and conquest that was continued after his death, during the reigns of Mary and then Elizabeth. During this chaotic period, Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory and 10th Earl of Ormond succeeded to his lands and titles in 1546 when he was just fifteen years old. Thomas had grown up at the English Court, and was seen as a faithful friend to the Crown. He was a personal friend to the young Elizabeth (and some suggest perhaps their friendship was more romantic than platonic) and he shared a tutor with the future King Edward VI. Following King Henry VIII’s death, Thomas Butler was present at the Coronation of the young King Edward and he was proclaimed as a Knight of the Order of Bath, a very high honour. Following Edward’s death at a young age, he remained at court during Mary’s reign and rose to high favour and prominence when Elizabeth became Queen. She named him Lord Treasurer of Ireland, a position that brought great wealth and prestige. 

He returned to Ireland, where he was thought of favourably, though he was considered to be ‘wholly English’ by the locals. He fought a number of bloody campaigns against the rebellious O’Moore’s of County Laois. However, despite occasionally earning the displeasure of the English Court due to ongoing feuding with the Fitzgeralds, Thomas [or Black Tom as he became known] maintained the good favour of the Crown. He was awarded a number of titles; President of Munster, Lord High Marshal of Ireland and Commander in Chief of Her Majesty’s Forces in Ireland.

It is said that he had the handsome Manor House of Ormond Castle constructed in preparation for a planned visit by Queen Elizabeth the Ist. However she never journeyed to Ireland to see this splendid building. This building is Ireland’s finest surviving example of an Elizabethan Manor House, and many of its architectural styles reflect the English influence. Originally, its handsome stone walls would have been covered with a plaster render and whitewashed in the fashion of the time. The building faces outwards onto what would have been a large park with a grand carriageway.
Today you can enjoy a guided tour around this building (though unfortunately no interior photographs are permitted). You can enter a number of the rooms, most impressively the Long Gallery, and you’ll encounter features like musket-loops, showing a formidable defensive, as well as fashionable, design. There are a number of pieces of period furniture, though none are original to the building. They do give a good sense of the style and furniture of the period. Perhaps most impressive of all is the rare plaster stucco friezes that depict the coat of arms of the Butler Family as well as griffins, falcons and portrait busts of Elizabeth Ist. You can also see impressive grand fireplaces in this stately room that once would have been filled with portraits and tapestries, leaving visitors to Ormond Castle in no doubt about the wealth and taste of the Earl of Ormond.

Facing towards the now blocked up arch of the Water Gate

Gradually the Butler family began to focus their attention and money on their other residences at Kilkenny Castle and Dunmore House. By the end of the seventeenth century, Ormond Castle was leased to tenants like Sir Ralph Freeman and his wife, and a group of French merchant families. A number of changes and alterations are believed to have been carried out at this time. In the eighteenth century, a solicitor named Mr Wogan who was a tenant at the castle levelled many of the ancillary buildings and began to modernise the Manor House. Gradually, Ormond Castle began to fall into disrepair. It was taken into OPW care in the 1940s, and a long programme of restoration was initiated.

The Castle is open free of charge to visitors daily from; 6th March - 2nd September. Access to the interior is by guided tour only, and I strongly recommend you take the fascinating tour to see the impressive long gallery, and to get a sense of life in Tudor period Ireland. For more information please see http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/South-East/OrmondCastle/. The site is one of the key stops along The Butler Trail, a great new initiative. Please see here for more information: http://www.discoverireland.ie/thebutlertrail

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com.

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All photographs © Neil Jackman /abartaaudioguides.com

St. Doulagh's Church, County Dublin

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The interior of the 19th century part of the church

Every now and again a heritage site really surprises me. We were out on Friday looking at sites in the North County Dublin / Fingal region, and we really enjoyed visiting the town of Swords with it’s fine round tower and castle. After a lunch stop at Malahide Castle, we decided to stop at a church called St. Doulagh’s that was nearby. We thought it would be a ten minute stop but we were extremely lucky that we bumped into Victor, who works at the site and he gave us a fascinating guided tour of a truly remarkable building. 

The medieval font

St. Doulagh’s is still used as a Church of Ireland place of worship, and on first entering the church it appears as a very nice, but not particularly unusual place, with fine oak vaulting on the ceiling and the stately but welcoming feel typical of a lot of Church of Ireland buildings. However the first clue of the buildings antiquity was the plain medieval baptismal font that is still in use today. And when we were led into the vestry in the old part of the church, the sheer history of the building became very apparent. 

A medieval piscina and fragments of a medieval sculpture in the vestry

A monastery is believed to have been founded here by the little-known, seventh century anchorite hermit Saint Doulagh. However the earliest historical reference to the church dates from the ninth century, in the Martyrology of Oengus. In that text the church is called Duilech Cain Clochair. The site has many of the features of an early medieval monastery, in the 1980s excavations by the archaeologist Leo Swan discovered a number of burials and the enclosure ditches that once surrounded the monastery. 

The church building is a fascinating mish-mash of a number of different periods, and it can be extremely difficult to work out which features date to what period. The eastern end of the building is thought to be the earliest. It has a very steeply vaulted stone roof and has a croft or living quarters for the monks. It is a little reminiscent of the vaulted stone roof of St. Kevin’s Church at Glendalough, or St. Colmcille’s House in Kells. This part of the building is thought to date to the twelfth century, making St. Doulagh’s the oldest stone-roofed church still in use as a place of worship. The tall central tower is thought to have been added in the fifteenth century, and you can access a number of the rooms from the exceptionally narrow spiral staircase

The very narrow spiral staircase

In the entrance hall there is a small ‘hermit’s cell’ which is reputed to be the burial place of St. Doulagh himself. From there you can access the handsome 19th century church that adjoins the older building. 

In the grounds of the churchyard you can find a lovely octagonal building covering St. Doulagh’s Holy Well and it is a charming and atmospheric spot. The interior was covered with frescoes in the early seventeenth century, painted in 1609 by a Mr Fagan, of Feltrim, though Victor the guide informed us that they were destroyed in the aftermath of the Williamite Wars. 

Just behind this well you can find another well dedicated to St. Catherine. It appears as an underground bath enclosed by a rectangular vaulted building, but this one is unfortunately not accessible at present. Just on the outside of the site near the entrance you can find an early medieval plain granite cross on a modern stepped-base. This was said to have been moved from the inside of the churchyard in the late 18th century. 

I strongly recommend a visit to St. Doulagh’s, it is a really fascinating building with a great atmosphere. St. Doulagh’s church is located at Balgriffin, on the Malahide Road, some 600 metres north of Balgriffin Cemetery. It is on the bus route 42 or 43 from Dublin City Centre.

St. Doulagh's Well

The early-medieval granite cross

Tours are available from May to September on Sundays from 2.30pm - 5.30pm. Tours can be arranged at other times for school, families, historical societies and heritage groups by contacting The Friends of St Doulagh's, see their website for more details: http://www.fingaldublin.ie/interior-pages/activities-attractions-amp-conference/castles-churches-and-towers/st-doulaghs-church/

I hope you enjoy our blog, and if you have any suggestions for historical sites you’d like me to cover please do get in touch at info@abartaaudioguides.com. If you'd like to support us please check out our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from www.AbartaAudioGuides.com.
If you’d like to receive daily updates and images of great heritage sites then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Some Sources and Further Reading

Baker, C. 2010. Antiquities of Old Fingal (Wordwell, Dublin) 

Harbison, P. 1982. St. Doulagh’s Church (in Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Vol. 71, No. 281)

Dowth Passage Tomb, County Meath

The Boyne Valley is one of the most important archaeological landscapes in the world and this region sheltered in a bend of the River Boyne, known as Brú na Bóinne (meaning Palace of the Boyne) is home to three massive Neolithic passage tombs, Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. A number of smaller tombs and features of huge importance are also contained within this area, but for this blogpost I’ll be focusing on Dowth – perhaps the least understood of the three major tombs. 

The silver ribbon of the Boyne visible from Dowth

Dowth is located around 2km north-east of Newgrange. Unlike Newgrange and Knowth, Dowth has never been properly excavated by archaeologists so there is far less known about the site. However in the middle of the nineteenth century, an extremely large hole was dug into the top of the mound.

Dowth is thought to date to around 5000 years old. It measures approximately 85m (280ft) in diameter and is ringed by 115 kerbstones, some of which display megalithic art. Two tombs are known at the western side of the large mound at Dowth and the setting sun in winter seems to illuminate the southernmost of these. Unfortunately on the day we visited we couldn’t access the passageways of the tombs as they were behind locked gates. The more northerly tomb has an 8m (26ft) long passageway that leads into a cruciform shaped chamber with an annexe leading off it. It also has an early medieval souterrain, probably dating to around the 10th century leading off the passageway. This shows that the tomb was still an important place in the early medieval period and possibly indicates a connection to an ancient monument with folkloric supernatural qualities. The southern passage has a circular chamber with a diameter of 4m (13ft). 

Unlike Knowth there are no satellite tombs immediately outside the great tomb at Dowth, but there are outlying tombs around 0.5km away, and a massive earth embanked henge is located to the east though there is no public access to that site.

A view down the northern passageway through the locked gate

A view down the southern passageway through the locked gate

The entrance to the southern passageway with a large kerbstone bearing cupmarks directly in front of the entrance

Dowth was known in early literature as Dubad and Sid mBresail (the otherworld mound of Bresal). The medieval manuscripts known as Dindseanchas explains how Dowth (Dubad) got its name. They tell the story of how all the men of Ireland were commanded by the King to come together for just one day to build a tower that would reach the heavens. The King's sister secretly used magic and stopped the sun in the sky so that there would be an endless day. As time wore on the men of Ireland became exhausted and realised that they had been tricked. However the magic spell was broken when the King and his sister committed incest. Darkness swiftly covered the land and work on the great mound was abandoned, it was said that Dubad (darkness) would be the name of this place from that day. In his brilliant new publication Archaeology and Celtic Myth, Professor John Waddell of NUI Galway notes the co-incidence that this legend reflects control over time and that archaeological excavation has revealed solar ritual and astronomical reflection in the tombs construction. Giving credit to Professor MJ O’Kelly and J. Carey’s hypothesis that these tales and legends recorded in medieval times might echo the beliefs of Neolithic tomb-builders millennia before.

If you look very carefully you can make out megalithic art on this kerbstone

The construction of the massive passage tombs of the Boyne Valley like Dowth, Knowth and Newgrange possibly indicate a larger-scale social identity. The physical size of these monuments and their complexity in construction suggests that there was an ability to mobilise hundreds of people to work on the tombs. This gives an indication of a concerted effort by a large group. Perhaps suggesting that these early farmers were forming large community groups for mutual support and ritual practices.

Dowth is free to access and there are no on-site guides, though the nearby Brú na Bóinne visitor centre gives a really good overview of the archaeology and history of these fascinating sites. A day out to the visitor centre to see Newgrange and Knowth and then a short drive to see Dowth is one of the most atmospheric and rewarding days you can have. I highly recommend it! For more information on the Visitor Centre please see here.

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Some Sources and Further Reading

Cooney, G. 2000. Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland (Routledge, London)
Cooney, G. and Grogan, E. 1999. Irish Prehistory; A Social Perspective (Wordwell, Wicklow).
Herity, M. and Eogan. G. 1996. Ireland in Prehistory (Routledge, London)
Waddell, J. 2014. Archaeology and Celtic Myth (Four Courts Press, Dublin).