<< Our Photo Pages >> Carrowkeel - Passage Grave in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Sligo

Submitted by Andy B on Saturday, 08 August 2009  Page Views: 9192

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Carrowkeel Alternative Name: Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery, Carrowkeel-Keshcorran Complex
Country: Ireland (Republic of) County: Co. Sligo Type: Passage Grave
Nearest Town: Sligo  Nearest Village: Ballinafad
Map Ref: G75231206
Latitude: 54.057183N  Longitude: 8.37898W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Carrowkeel H
Carrowkeel H submitted by KaiHofmann : Carrowkeel H (Vote or comment on this photo)
Passage Grave cemetery in Co. Sligo. Carrowkeel is the name of the Neolithic passage tomb cemetery in the south of County Sligo. An Cheathrú Chaol in Irish means 'the Narrow Quarter'. Circumstantial Carbon 14 dating places the tombs at between 5400 and 5100 years old, so that they predate the Pyramids on Egypt's Giza plateau by 500-800 years.

Carrowkeel is one of the big four passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland (the other three are Newgrange, Lough Crew, and Carrowmore). Carrowkeel is set on high ground above Lough Arrow, and the tombs seem to be oriented towards the area of Cuil Irra, Knocknarea and Carrowmore. There are fourteen passage tombs in Carrowkeel. Some can be entered by crawling through a narrow passage. Six more passage tombs are located close by in the Keshcorran complex. A particular type of crude pottery found in passage tombs has been titled Carrowkeel Ware, having first been recorded in the Carrowkeel Monuments.

Close to Lough Arrow and just north of Carrowkeel is another, apparently related, giant passage tomb, Heapstown Cairn. This is part of the legendary Moytura, site of battles between the Tuatha Dé Danann, the ancient gods of Ireland, and the demonic Fomorians.

Carrowkeel is the name of the Neolithic passage tomb cemetery in the south of County Sligo. An Cheathrú Chaol in Irish means 'the Narrow Quarter'. Circumstantial Carbon 14 dating places the tombs at between 5400 and 5100 years old, so that they predate the Pyramids on Egypt's Giza plateau by 500-800 years. Carrowkeel is one of the big four passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland (the other three are Newgrange, Lough Crew, and Carrowmore). Carrowkeel is set on high ground above Lough Arrow, and the tombs seem to be oriented towards the area of Cuil Irra, Knocknarea and Carrowmore. There are fourteen passage tombs in Carrowkeel. Some can be entered by crawling through a narrow passage. Six more passage tombs are located close by in the Keshcorran complex. A particular type of crude pottery found in passage tombs has been titled Carrowkeel Ware, having first been recorded in the Carrowkeel Monuments.

Coordinates: 54°03′12″N 8°22′40″W / 54.05333°N 8.37778°W / 54.05333; -8.37778

Close to Lough Arrow and just north of Carrowkeel is another, apparently related, giant passage tomb, Heapstown Cairn. This is part of the legendary Moytura, site of battles between the Tuatha Dé Danann, the ancient gods of Ireland, and the demonic Fomorians.

The mountain range containing Carrowkeel is called the Bricklieve Mountains, meaning the speckled mountains in Irish, a possible reference to their appearance when more quartz rock survived on the outside of the cairns, causing them to sparkle in the sun. The tombs were opened by R.A.S. McAllister in 1911 or so, accompanied by Robert Lloyd Praeger. Although McAllister was ahead of his time in archaeological technique, he was rather in a hurry in Carrowkeel and his removal and disturbance of the chamber floors have hampered investigators who followed him. In 'The Way That I Went', 1937, Praeger gives an eerie account of the first entry into one of the Carrowkeel monuments.
Carrowkeel, Cairn G with sunbox

'I lit three candles and stood awhile, to let my eyes accustom themselves to the dim light. There was everything, just as the last Bronze Age man (sic) had left it, three to four thousand years before. A light brownish dust covered all... There beads of stone, bone implements made from Red Deer antlers, and many fragments of much decayed pottery. On little raised recesses in the wall were flat stones, on which reposed the calcinated bones of young children'.

A 2004 excavation by Professor Stefan Bergh, NUIG, of hut sites on the slopes of Mullaghafarna - close to cairn O and P, Carrowkeel - promises to shed light on the builders of these monuments. Visitors to the site are asked not to climb on the cairns, or damage the monuments in any way, and not to take anything in or out of these ancient tombs. Some parts of the site contain deep crevices, holes and cliff faces.

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Carrowkeel B
Carrowkeel B submitted by dooclay : Possible decorated stone on right side of the chamber (Vote or comment on this photo)

Carrowkeel B
Carrowkeel B submitted by dooclay : View into the Chamber at Cairn B (Vote or comment on this photo)

Carrowkeel P
Carrowkeel P submitted by Romestado : Cairn P atop the Doonaveeragh plateau (Vote or comment on this photo)

Carrowkeel O
Carrowkeel O submitted by Romestado : Cairn O atop the Doonaveeragh plateau (Vote or comment on this photo)

Carrowkeel Cairn K
Carrowkeel Cairn K submitted by KenWilliams : I went to visit the Carrowkeel passage tombs in Co. Sligo on 14th October, and unfortunately I’m very sad to say what I found was the worst vandalism I have come across at any megalithic site in the last twenty years. A stone forming the entrance to Cairn H was knocked over. Also inside another passage tomb (Cairn K) the stones have been maliciously defaced with symbols and rambling nonsense. Pl... (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Carrowkeel Cairn K
Carrowkeel Cairn K submitted by KenWilliams

Carrowkeel Cairn K
Carrowkeel Cairn K submitted by KenWilliams

Carrowkeel H
Carrowkeel H submitted by KenWilliams (2 comments)

Carrowkeel F
Carrowkeel F submitted by karolus : carrowkeel cairn F in 2023

Carrowkeel F
Carrowkeel F submitted by karolus (2 comments)

Carrowkeel cairn X
Carrowkeel cairn X submitted by JAGamble : Cairn X, showing the degree of vegetation growth covering the site.

Carrowkeel L
Carrowkeel L submitted by JAGamble : Cairn L appears featureless. It has not been excavated so it cannot be said with certainty whether it is also a passage grave.

Carrowkeel
Carrowkeel submitted by h_fenton : Sorry for the poor picture of the megalithic art inside Cairn B. If I'd done research before visiting and had known about this art I would have gone equipped to take some decent photographs. This cairn is rather awkward to get to from the rest of the cairn cemetery. photo taken with bounced flash 15 April 2016

Carrowkeel
Carrowkeel submitted by h_fenton : Looking into the chamber of Cairn B at Carrowkeel. 15 April 2016

Carrowkeel
Carrowkeel submitted by h_fenton : Entrance of Cairn B at Carrowkeel. Scale: 1 Metre 15 April 2016

Carrowkeel
Carrowkeel submitted by h_fenton : Cairn B at Carrowkeel. 15 April 2016

Carrowkeel
Carrowkeel submitted by h_fenton : Cairn B at Carrowkeel from roughly South 15 April 2016

Carrowkeel Cairn K
Carrowkeel Cairn K submitted by pasckal : Personal view of the megalith

Carrowkeel Cairn C
Carrowkeel Cairn C submitted by KaiHofmann : Remains of Cairn C

Carrowkeel Cairn C
Carrowkeel Cairn C submitted by KaiHofmann

Carrowkeel Cairn C
Carrowkeel Cairn C submitted by KaiHofmann

Carrowkeel Cairn C
Carrowkeel Cairn C submitted by KaiHofmann

Carrowkeel Cairn G
Carrowkeel Cairn G submitted by KaiHofmann : strange stone close to tomb G

Carrowkeel Cairn G
Carrowkeel Cairn G submitted by KaiHofmann

Carrowkeel Cairn G
Carrowkeel Cairn G submitted by KaiHofmann : Carrowkeel Cairn G with onother in the BG.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 102m SSE 168° Carrowkeel Cairn X* Cairn (G75251196)
 150m SSE 147° Carrowkeel Cairn G* Chambered Cairn (G7531111933)
 209m SSE 160° Carrowkeel H* Passage Grave (G7530211863)
 350m SSE 162° Carrowkeel Cairn K* Chambered Cairn (G7533511726)
 366m SSE 169° Carrowkeel L* Passage Grave (G753117)
 430m W 275° Carrowkeel Cairn C Passage Grave (G748121)
 430m W 275° Carrowkeel D Passage Grave (G748121)
 545m SSW 213° Carrowkeel Cairn E* Court Tomb (G7492711606)
 712m SSE 157° Carrowkeel M Passage Grave (G755114)
 737m SSW 206° Carrowkeel F* Passage Grave (G749114)
 758m ESE 118° Carrowkeel O Passage Grave (G759117)
 844m SSE 154° Carrowkeel N Passage Grave (G756113)
 890m WSW 238° Carrowkeel B* Passage Grave (G7446711598)
 894m ESE 121° Carrowkeel P Passage Grave (G760116)
 3.4km N 4° Hermit's Cave and Holy Well - Burren National Park* Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 4.0km W 278° Kesh Corran Chambered Cairn (G7127812622)
 4.7km NNE 25° Heapstown Cairn* Chambered Cairn (G77251626)
 5.0km NE 51° Cromleach Lodge* Chambered Tomb (G79181517)
 5.7km NE 50° Carrickglass* Portal Tomb (G796157)
 5.8km E 87° Shee Lugh* Chambered Cairn
 9.8km S 171° Ballynanultagh* Portal Tomb (G76800237)
 9.8km SW 215° Ballynakill (LoughRea) Stone Circle* Stone Circle (G696040)
 21.2km NNW 348° Tobernault Holy Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 21.7km ENE 57° Turlough Stone Row* Standing Stones (G935238)
 22.2km NW 323° Tanrego Bay Stone Circle (G6230)
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"Carrowkeel" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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New dates from Carrowkeel by Andy B on Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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Article in Past 79 - free download from

http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/publications/past/P10/
http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/publications/publication/past_79/
http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/files/PAST_79_Web.pdf
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Facilitating Transitions: Postmortem Processing of the Dead at Carrowkeel by Andy B on Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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Facilitating Transitions: Postmortem Processing of the Dead at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Ireland (3500–3000 cal B.C.)
Bioarchaeology International, 2017
Jonny Geber, Robert Hensey, Padraig Meehan, Sam Moore, Thomas Kador

This study explores the burial practices and secondary funerary rites at the Carrowkeel Neolithic passage tomb complex in County Sligo in northwest Ireland. An osteological and taphonomic reassessment of cremated and unburned human bones recovered from the complex during an archaeological excavation more than a century ago has produced significant new insights into how the people of Carrowkeel perceived death and how they maintained and manifested social links with their ancestors. In addition to the rite of cremation, a complex post-mortem burial practice is further attested by the presence of cut marks on several of the unburned bones, which indicate that the bodies of the dead were dismembered before they were placed in the tombs.

It is argued that both cremation and dismemberment (and possible defleshing) may have been physical expressions of similar objectives, relating to excarnation and removal of flesh from the bodies of the deceased. Processing the bodies and thereby assisting the dead to transcend to an extra-bodily realm of existence may have been the main focus of the burial rite. The passage tombs at Carrowkeel should perhaps be viewed as places of curation, transformation , and regeneration of enduring ancestors that enabled both a physical and spiritual interaction with the dead and allowed for their omnipresence among the living.

Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5744/bi.2017.1001
Download from
https://www.academia.edu/33724596/ (free registration required)
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The Carrowkeel passage tombs by Andy B on Wednesday, 02 March 2016
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The Carrowkeel passage tombs. Irish quaternary Association Field Guide No. 30

The Bricklieve Mountains, where the majority of the Carrowkeel-Keashcorran passage tombs are situated, are a place of interest not only from an archaeological perspective but also in terms of geology and geomorphology, botany and zoology. Their importance is highlighted by the Natural Heritage Area and Special Area of Conservation status given to this landscape. The hills are comprised of rocky outcrops and sheer limestone cliffs; dramatic views abound in almost all directions, especially to the north and across the Lough Arrow to Moytirra.

As well as the humanly made sites, such as the passage tombs that are the focus of this section of the guide, the numerous caves in the area are of considerable interest. Of these the Caves of Kesh on the west side of Kesh Corran Mountain are the most widely known. Here late-glacial (or immediately post glacial) fauna including Arctic lemming were recovered in excavations by Scharff in the first years of the twentieth century. Other finds from the caves – including some that have only recently been dated – point to human use, particularly in the Iron Age (Dowd, forthcoming). Beside caves and passage tombs, the area is home to many other archaeological monuments, including numerous barrows and monuments representing all the main megalithic traditions in Ireland. But it is the many cairns located in these hills that have been the primary focus here since the excavations led by R.A.S. Macalister, R.L. Praeger and E.C.R. Armstrong in 1911 .

https://www.academia.edu/2350410/The_Carrowkeel_passage_tombs._Irish_quaternary_Association_Field_Guide_No._30
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A century of archaeology – historical excavation and modern research at Carrowkeel by Andy B on Friday, 11 September 2015
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A century of archaeology – historical excavation and modern research at the Carrowkeel passage tombs, County Sligo by Robert Hensey, Padraig Meehan, Marion Dowd and Sam Moore

The Carrowkeel complex represents one of the four main groups of passagetombs in Ireland. Although less well known than its counterpart in the BoyneValley, new discoveries in recent years have renewed interest in this inter-nationally significant yet under-investigated site. This paper reviews the 1911excavation of passage tombs at Carrowkeel and presents new research anddiscoveries that have been made since. New dates (from a radiocarbon datingproject undertaken by the authors) which demonstrate activity within thecomplex towards the end of the fourth millennium BC are discussed. Theauthors consider the significance of the recently discovered passage tomb artwithin the complex, and outline the prospects for future research there,particularly with regard to human bone assemblage from the 1911 excavations

https://www.academia.edu/2433430/A_century_of_archaeology_historical_excavation_and_modern_research_at_the_Carrowkeel_passage_tombs_County_Sligo

Also by Sam Moore: Myths and folklore as aids in interpreting the prehistoric landscape at the Carrowkeel passage tomb complex, Co. Sligo, Ireland. In Ann-Britt Falk and Donata M. Kryitz (eds.) ‘Folk Beliefs and Practice in Medieval Lives; B.A.R., International Series, 1757 Oxford. 2008.
https://www.academia.edu/1601596

The Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo: people and a pre-monumental landscape, Association of Young Irish Archaeologists Conference Papers 2003, UCC, Cork , 2003
https://www.academia.edu/1601617
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Re: Carrowkeel by Anonymous on Thursday, 14 April 2011
Brilliant article lovely to read and see the pictures as I am from carrowkeel myself. The closest village by road is actually Castlebaldwin not Ballinafad. Regards and best wishes
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