Looking to Knocknarea from Circle 57 near the centre of Carrowmore.
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Carrowmore The megaliths of Carrowmore, located five kilometers south-west of Sligo town are at the heart of the Cúil Irra peninsula and are one of the greatest megalithic complexes of ancient Ireland. Here you can visit the remains of the one of the oldest and largest collections of stone age monuments in Western Europe. Carrowmore is located at the centre of the penninsula, which is in the heart of a well preserved megalithic landscape. The peninnsula is bounded by water on three sides - Ballisodare Bay to the south, the Atlantic ocean to the west and Sligo Bay to the north. The stunning cairn topped mountain of Knocknarea is 4 km to the west, while the smaller, but equally important Cairns Hill is 4 km to the east. There are 6 more mountain top cairns on the peaks of the Ox Mountains to the south. Twenty seven monuments remain today, in varying states of preservation. The remains of at least 65 monuments are known, though it was thought by earlier researchers that there may have been up to 100 monuments at Carrowmore. The sites were extensively damaged in the early years of the nineteenth century by land clearance and quarrying. The site is managed by the Office of Public Works, and there is a small visitor centre and information display which is open from May to September, with a cover charge. Guided tours are provided. Carrowmore is well signposted from Sligo Town and is easy to find. This website provides a virtual tour of the sites at Carrowmore, with a page for each monument and as much information as I could find about them. As many of the monuments have been destroyed, the only records of some circles are the comments by Petrie and Wood-Martin and the illustrations of William Wakeman.
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The beautifully balanced dolmen at Carrowmore 7.
