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photo by Leo Regan showing Cairn
H and Cairn G at Carrowkeel,
with arrows pointing to Knocknarea
and Benbulben on the horizon. |
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Guided
Tours Click below for Sacred Island navigation map:
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Welcome to the Sacred Island website - based at www.carrowkeel.com and www.carrowmore.com in the west of Ireland. My name is Martin Byrne, an artist and researcher currently living in Cliffoney, beside the ancient site of Creeveykeel in Co. Sligo. For the past number of years I have been investigating megalithic monuments, specifically Chambered Cairns - a type of monument with internal chambers found on mountain tops and hills all across Ireland.
I originally became interested in these sites for their wonderful megalithic engraved symbols, which are the oldest written 'documents' in Ireland (3,500 - 3,000 BC). I have been working on the solar and lunar alignments which illuminate interiors of monuments, the beautiful landscape settings in which they are located, the wealth of mythological tales associated with these ancient structures. This website is a mixture of art, symbolism, archeology, mythology and astronomical alignments - with a good dash of Irish traditional music coming soon. I spent many years living below the neolithic cairns of Carrowkeel in the Bricklieve Mountains, near Lough Arrow, in south Co. Sligo, a very beautiful part of the West of Ireland. The Carrowkeel cairns contain chambers built of limestone slabs, several of which have corbelled roofs, which can best be described as artificial caves. Many are aligned to important rising or seting positions of the heavenly bodies, or to another monument on the horizon. There are 25 cairns in and around the Bricklieves, but many more sites are visible on nearby hills and mountains, most of which have important mythic associations. There is also a remarkable neolithic village on the flat plateau of Doonaveeragh Mountain and an amazing series of caves in the side of the enchanted hill of Kesh Corran in the Bricklieves. There are a great number of alignments between the Sligo monuments: to the north star, the midwinter lunar standstill and the summer solstice sunset. Across Lough Arrow from Carrowkeel is the fabled ridge of Moytura, the site of the great mythological battle between the Túatha Dé Danann, the ancient tribes of Ireland, and the Formorians who perhaps represented Chaos. Between Castlebaldwin and Moytura is the great unopened cairn of Heapstown, perhaps the fourth largest monument in Ireland.
The next great collection of Cairns are at Loughcrew, 'The Mountains of the Hag' in Co. Meath. What remains is one of Ireland's most spectacular sites, rich with early megalithic art. Two of the Loughcrew monuments have well documented astronomical orientations: Cairn T - the central monument is oriented to the sun and moon rises on the equinoxes; Cairn L is oriented to the sunrises in the first few days of November and February.
There are many, many monuments beside these, which I am adding to my clickable Map of Ireland. Along the way you will encounter several other clickable maps which will take you into greater detail within an area. There are also several field trips and news articles on the site, which I add to when I get a chance. Enjoy your visit! Slán, Martin, 24 Jan 2008 |
Sacred
Island, The Old Barricks, Cliffoney, County Sligo, Ireland.
Images & text © Martin Byrne. 2000/2008
Last
update: 24
January 2008
I
haven't had much time to work on this website recently - I took up traditional
Irish fiddle playing a few years ago - after discovering the music of
The Bothy Band. I have also been working as an organic gardener, and spent
most of 2007 growing pumpkins. However, after several years of semi neglect,
I finally have time to put some work into the site again.
