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Guided Tours

Introduction

Loughcrew

Megalithic art

The Cailleach

Cairns A, B and C

Cairn D

Cairns E, F and G

Cairn H

Cairns I, J and K

Cairn L

Cairns M, N and O

Cairn R

Cairn S

Cairn T

Cairn U

Cairn V

Cairns X and Y

 

Megalithic art at Loughcrew

Loughcrew is the home of a superb collection of megalithic art; many of the stuctural stones of the chambers bear engravings, and doubtless there were many more in the past. Eugene Conwell, who 'discovered' Loughcrew while on a picnic with his wife, had a few of the stones illustrated for his lectures to the Royal Irish Academy. The Hag's Chair, left is one of his illustrations. The Dutch artist du Noyer recorded many of the Loughcrew engravings in the 1860's, a very valueable record since many of the stones have greatly weathered since then. Two of his illustrations are reproduced below. More of Du Noyer's illustrations can be seen in Michael Herity's 1975 book Irish Passage Graves.

Some 26 stones within Cairn T bear decoration, most notably the backstone of the end-recess (Elizabeth Twohig's illustration is shown, right). American researcher Martin Brennan demonstrated in the early 1980's that the equinox sunrises illuminate this complex slab of megalithic symbols. This is Brennan's great contribution to Irish megalithic research: how the engravings interact with the beams of light and by extension the heavenly bodies. Brennan's groundbreaking book, The Stars and the Stones has line drawings of many of the engravings at Loughcrew. The book has recently been re-published as the Stones of Time.

The only surviving engraved kerbstone at Loughcrew, the Hag's Chair (top photo and drawing, left), is positioned on the north side of Cairn T. The engravings are very much weathered today, and not obvious at all on the stone except for some relatively recent graffiti. The picture above shows the kerb art highlighted using Conwell's engraving of the Hag's Chair.

Cairn U also has several engravings within it's chamber, including a long set of inverted nested arcs on the backstone, which may represent a sunrise. The stones in the recesses on either side also bear interesting compositions. There are scattered engravings on the other monuments, which can be found by a careful search in good light, but not a great amount remains.

Engravings in Cairn T.

Carrowkeel

Caves of Kesh

Kesh Cairn

Knocknarea

Carrowmore

Cairns Hill

On Cairnbane West, the largest number of surviving stones are within Cairn L, with it's unique standing stone and basin. A beautiful and dramatic design of nested circles, cupmarks and arcs covers the slab at the rear of the main right-hand recess.

Brennan demonstrated that this engraving is illuminated by the rising sun on the November and February cross-quater days. This stunning display of light and shadow is illustrated on the Cairn L Page. Aside from L, carvings can easily be found in Cairns I and H.

Hundreds of bone slips were discovered in Cairn H, during Raftery's excavation in 1943, and several are now on display in the National Museum in Dublin. They date about 3000 years after the carins were built. It is easy imagine the Iron Age artist at work, inspired by the ancient engraved spirals on the walls around him.

Engraved stone in the passageway of Cairn T.

The archaeologist Elizabeth Twohig took rubbings of the Loughcrew stones (seemingly with the exception of the Hag's Chair), and her 1981 book, the Megalithic Art of Western Europe is essential to anyone who wishes to locate all the engraved stones.

There is more art in the area. A standing stone on the south slope of Sliabh na Caillí has an engraved spral on it's north surface. An engraved slab was recently erected within the entrance on the way to Cairnbane West. There appear to be engraved slabs near the Ballinavally stone circle to the north of the hills. A lone slab engraved with large spirals stands on King's Mountain a few km to the east. Finally, at least one Loughcrew stone is on display in the National Museum in Dublin.

Equinox sunrise sunbeam illuminating the keystone at Cairn T, autumn 1996. Over the five days around the equinoxes a dramatic play of light, shadow, stone and engraving takes place within the chamber of Cairn T.

Researcher Michael Poynder believed that the engravings were illustrations of the earth energies that flow through these sites. Certainly the engravings are found at key locations throughout the monuments. Loughcrew is located on a line that passes through the Hill of Howth, with a large dolmen on the top, the Hill of Tara, and continure past Loughcrew to Sliabh da Ean and Knocknarea in County Sligo.