Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

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Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery is the oldest and the densest concentration of Neolithic tombs in Ireland, with over 30 surviving passage tombs constructed almost 6,000 years ago.

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery is the oldest and the densest concentration of Neolithic tombs in Ireland. The site is located near Sligo town on the Cúil Íorra Peninsula, at the heart of Neolithic north-west Ireland. Remains of over 35 passage tombs are found here, constructed between 3700 and 3000 BC - making them among the oldest megalithic monuments in Ireland and Europe. A restored cottage houses an exhibition that will inspire your tour through this landscape. The monuments consist of central dolmen-like megaliths with upright orthostats bearing conical capstones, each enclosed by boulder circles of 12 to 15 metres in diameter. The cemetery is dominated by Listoghil (Tomb 51), the largest monument with a distinctive box-like chamber and restored cairn, which appears to have been the focal point around which the entire cemetery developed. Many of the satellite tombs face toward this central monument, creating an intricate web of connections across the ritual landscape.

History: Carrowmore represents one of the foundation points of the Irish passage tomb tradition. Archaeological excavations led by Swedish archaeologist Göran Burenhult in 1977-1982 and 1994-1998 revealed that the monuments were erected and used by Neolithic farming communities between approximately 3750 BC and 3000 BC. The central tomb, Listoghil, was erected around 3500 BC. There may have been over 60 monuments originally, but many fell victim to quarrying and field clearance during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. The chambers contained the remains of multiple individuals, most appearing to have been cremations, and the burial assemblage includes antler and bone pins, beads, pendants, and stone balls. Recent ancient DNA analysis has revealed a web of kinship connections between occupants of Carrowmore and other major Irish passage tomb sites including Newgrange and Carrowkeel, suggesting a dynastic elite lineage buried in these prestigious locations. The site was first documented by Gabriel Beranger in 1779, and early excavations were conducted by George Petrie in 1837 and William Gregory Wood-Martin in the 1880s.

Significance: Carrowmore is one of Ireland's most important prehistoric sites and forms part of 'The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo', which has been placed on Ireland's Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is one of the 'big four' passage tomb complexes in Ireland, along with Carrowkeel, Loughcrew and Brú na Bóinne. The site represents the most westerly and dramatic expression of the remarkable flourishing of ritual monuments that spread across Europe five to six millennia ago. The monuments were consciously merged with the physical topography, creating strong intervisibility between sites and forming an intricate sacred geography. Carrowmore possesses the most extensive Neolithic cemetery in Ireland and is among the oldest, predating even the great monuments of Newgrange. The 1989 Supreme Court case regarding the site marked the first explicit legal recognition in Ireland of the concept of an architectural landscape, extending legal protection to include the surrounding area of a national monument.

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