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Ancient Sites of the Emerald Isle

By Lora Meisner, E Com Communications

When travelers think of Ireland they usually associate it with quaint bed and breakfasts, pubs and plenty of green countryside.  And when people think of archaeology, ancient sites and anything dated B.C., they may thing about Italy or Greece but probably not Ireland. Yet Ireland is a treasure trove of ancient and historic sites that many visitors overlook.

Since my husband and I are both history buffs, we did some homework and were able to take full advantage of the wealth of that country’s ancient and historic sites. Though we only toured in west and southwestern Ireland, we found several areas dense with sites left by people from various ages.

Our trip began in County Clare and the Burren. The name Burren is a Celtic word that means “stony place.” This giant limestone formation has remained virtually the same since the Ice Age and is the largest of its kind in Western Europe.

Though bleak in appearance, this terrain is also home to the unusual and rare of plants, including an improbable collection of alpine and Mediterranean species growing together. Whoever the ancient peoples who lived here were, they certainly couldn’t be farmers in this strange terrain.

This area does have some of the finest archaeological megalithic tombs in Western Europe. There are relics of human habitation dating back almost 6,000 years and in this area alone, there are more than 60 wedge tombs – the densest concentration in Ireland. (Wedge tombs are megalithic structures distinguished by their being taller and wider at their entrances than at their rears, thus, “wedge.”)

After visiting the spectacular Cliffs of Mohar, we toured the Burren and stopped at the Portal Dolmen (also called the Poulnabrone Portal Tomb). It is situated in the spectacular starkness of the limestone uplands, which makes it an especially fine example of a portal dolmen – a Neolithic tomb. In 1986, excavations here unearthed the bones of 14 adults andsix children, pieces of pottery and stone artifacts, which led to the conclusion that the tomb was in use about 2,500 B.C. Just down the road from the Portal Dolmen is the Cahercommaun ring fort, one of approximately 500 in the area.

Leaving County Clare and the Burren, we headed to one of Ireland’s largest open-air museums, the Dingle Peninsula.  After the thrill of driving over Connor Pass, offering some of the most spectacular mountain views in Ireland, we based ourselves in Dingletown. According to locals, no other location in Western Europe has the density and variety of archaeological monuments of the Dingle Peninsula.

Various peoples have lived here for more than 6,000 years and because of the remoteness of the area, 2,000+ monuments have remained well preserved. Starting in the Mesolithic Period, to the Stone and Bronze ages, and through the Iron Age, the Dingle Peninsula was the locale for structures that have survived up to the present day.

About six miles from Dingletown is a late Stone Age ring fort. It was a Celtic chieftain’s headquarters, a stone and earth-filled stockade with little stone houses. These were left untouched through the centuries due to the superstitions of the locals – an example of Irish superstitions that proved to be positive.

Just a mile away is Dunbeg Fort, a series of defensive ramparts and ditches around central clochan, or beehive hut, on cliffs overlooking the sea. This fort is an important relic that dates back to Ireland’s Iron Age. Throughout this area littered along the hillsides are beehive huts. At one time there were more than 400 of these dry stone, corbelled huts surviving. When entering one of the better-preserved huts, it’s quite amazing how weather-tight they are after several centuries.

After visiting the Celtic pillar stone, carved with Celtic scrollwork in the walled Reasc Monastic enclosure, we drove to one of Dingle’s most famous sites, the Gallarus Oratory. Gallarus is situated on farmland overlooking Smerwick Harbor and has stood the test of time for over 1,200 years. It looks like an upturned boat. This building of mortarless stone is still weatherproof, and once inside you marvel at the quality this masterpiece’s stonework.

Just above Gallarus is Kilmalkedar, a ruined 12^th-century church. In the church is the famous Alphabet Stone, a standing pillar carved with both Roman and Ogham* characters. Although there were many more ancient sites in the area, we reserved our time for the most significant.

On to antiquity-rich Beara

Though Dingle’s scenery was dramatic and beautiful, and we loved the wildness of the area, all good things must come to an end. So, we headed to the less-traveled Beara Peninsula rather than the tourist-filled Ring of Kerry.

The Beara Peninsula is also rich and abundant with historical sites, from burial grounds to church sites. You can explore all types of historical antiquities dating from all ages on the Beara Peninsula. The area is dotted with stone circles, alignments and galluns (solitary standing stones, often pointed at the top). There are also a number of ogham stones, including the largest in the world. Ogham stones are tall pillar-like stones with ogham characters carved on it.

One of the stone circles that we visited was the Derrintaggart Stone Circle. It is a typical example of circles believed to have been constructed between 1,500 and 500 B.C., generally comprised of five to 19 stones arranged in a circle. The locations of these circles suggest that the builders used them as ceremonial and ritual centers. Another theory suggests that they were used as a type of calendar relating to the setting and rising of the sun and moon.

In the lovely town of Kenmare, at the top of the peninsula, is one of the biggest stone circles in southwest Ireland, local’s call it the “Druids Circle.” Scholars believe that this circle may be oriented on the setting sun. In the center of the circle is a boulder dolmen (a large horizontal stone laid atop vertical stones to form a table or lintel), which is rather unique.

Completing our circle tour of western and southwestern Ireland, not far from Limerick, is one of Ireland’s largest archaeological sites, Lough Gur. The first inhabitants cleared land for farming here around 3,000 B.C. Gradually these people learned how to use metals – bronze, then iron – to make their farm work easier.

There are several major sites around Lough Gur. The Grange Stone Circle is one of them. With its 113 stones, it’s the largest and finest stone circle in Ireland, and was built around 2,000 B.C. A short distance away is a wedge tomb. The tomb was communal grave dating back to about 2,500 B.C. Archaeologists found the bones of at least eight adults and four children there, as well as some cremated human bones.

Vikings and Anglo-Norman earls later invaded the community at Lough Gur, and eventually the Celts lost their land to Queen Elizabeth I. After several centuries, it was finally sold to the Limerick County Council in 1984.

What impressed us the most was the way that these marvelous archaeological sites just blend in with the Irish countryside. You’ll see a stone circle, or an ogham stone or some other sign of an earlier age sitting in the middle of a farmer’s field, or down the lane from a row of 20^th-century homes. They are simply part of Ireland’s everyday life, which is why many visitors may not be aware that they exist or of their significance.

So, the next time you travel down an Irish country lane, take a look around; you may be journeying among sites left by some Stone or Bronze Age peoples. Stop and enjoy what they left behind for us to explore.

* Ogham

The Celtic alphabet known as Ogham (pronounced "Oh-m" or "Oh-wam") was invented, according to the medieval Irish Book of Ballymote, by Ogma Sun-Face, son of Elatha.  

The earliest known form of Irish is preserved in Ogham inscriptions, which date mainly from the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. The linguistic information preserved in Ogham is sparse, as the inscriptions contain little more than personal names on boundary-marking megaliths, but it is sufficient to reveal a form of Gaelic much older than Old Irish, the earliest well-documented variety of the language. 

There are numerous accounts in the ancient literature which suggests that Ogham was a type of writing and signaling using signs known only to bards, druids and the warrior intelligentsia. It was not understood by the common folk or uneducated people. 

The name Ogham or Ogam was derived from that of the Celtic god of literature and eloquence. Sometimes the Ogham is written straight across, as in manuscripts. There are 369 verified examples of Ogham writing surviving today. These exist in the form of galluns concentrated in Ireland but scattered across Scotland, the Isle of Man, South Wales and Devonshire. 

Similar markings, dating to 500 BC, have been found on standing stones in Spain and Portugal. It is from this area of the Iberian Peninsula that the Celts who colonized Ireland may have come. The discovery of similar carvings in the state of West Virginia in the United States has caused some speculation that the Celts may have come to the New World as early as 100 B.C.