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Location:
County
Sligo, Near Standhill,
Ireland. |
Grid Reference:
54� 15' 28" N. 8� 34'
32" W. |
Knocknarea:
(Passage Mound).
The translation of the name of this hill 'The
Hill of the Moon', reveals a
connection with astronomy, which is supported by its position in line
with the Carrowkeel passage mounds, suggesting that this hill was likely
once a significant part of the prehistoric landscape.
T his
large cairn on top is suggested to be the remains of a passage-mound
similar to those of the Boyne Valley.
Knocknarea is said to be the burial place of the
wild Queen Maeve, one of the major figures in the Irish saga, the Tain Bo
Cualnge.
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Knocknarea:
('Cnoc Na Ri', ' Hill of the Moon'). |
This striking mountain dominates the
landscape of the west of Sligo.
Maeve's cairn, by far
the largest, is only one of a number of monuments on the summit of
Knocknarea. In general the tombs are lined up North/South, they may have
been constructed facing Carrowmore in the lowlands. Many of the smaller
tombs seem to have been small passage tombs; they were severely damaged
by the excavations of antiquarians in the 19th century.
Knocknarea Mountain
seems to have been a major place of ritual and meeting in the Neolithic
era. The entire top of the mountain on the eastern side is circumscribed
by an 1k long embankment, 2 m wide and 0.8 m tall. Hut sites have been
located on the inside of this area. A large amount of debris from making
stone tools have also been collected. (See: Bergh: Landscape of the
Monuments)
Warning: The climb to the top is not
for the faint hearted and can take up to an hour each way.
Maeve's
Cairn: �Miosg�n Medbha� 'Maeve�s
Lump of Butter'
- This
cairn, also known as Misgaun Maeve, is 10m high and 55m across at the base. It
probably covers a passage tomb similar to those at Carrowkeel and in the
Boyne valley. It would have been built by Neolithic peoples about 3.000 BC.
Around the cairn there are a number of other tombs, probably of the same
period, in varying states of destruction. It remains unexcavated.
Queen Maeve's cairn measures around
55 meters across and 10 meters high, making it the largest such tomb in
Ireland outside the
Boyne Valley. It is estimated that the stones used in the
construction would weigh approx' 40,000 metric tons. Archaeologist
Stefan Bergh, in his book Landscape of the Monuments Stockholm
(1995), suggested that the large depression to the back of the hill on
the western side was the quarry from which the limestone for the
monument was sourced.
The association with Queen Maeve is
purely speculative as the mound has yet to be investigated properly.
Connections
with other sites: The Prehistoric Landscape.
The entire region around Sligo Bay is very rich
in pre-historic remains, and interconnected by a visual 'language' of
monuments and natural shapes. From Knocknarea can be seen other
important Neolithic sites such as
Carrowkeel, Cairns Hill and
Carrowmore
cemetery which is located at the eastern foot of Knocknarea.
Carrowkeel:
A congregation of 14 passage mounds, at least on of which (Cairn G), has a
light-box, similar to that at Newgrange. The passages of several of the
passage-mounds align with Knocknarea at the maximum setting of the moon's
18.6 year cycle.
Other observations have shown that the summit of Maebh�s Cairn was at the
same altitude as Cairn K at Carrowkeel, which is oriented to Queen Maebh�s
Cairn. �If you draw a circle from Cairn K which touches Maeve�s Cairn on
Knocknarea, you would find that it also touches Maeve�s Palace, the mound of
Rathcroghan in Roscommon.
(More about Carrowkeel)
Carrowmore:
Arguably one
of the oldest cemeteries in Ireland - Even from the cremated remains it is
apparent that the dead underwent a complex sequence of treatments, including
excarnation and reburial. Grave goods include antler pins with
mushroom-shaped heads and stone or clay balls, although other tombs outside
Carrowmore held entirely different assemblages of items. The setting of the
graveyard suggests a careful selection, in which the dead were seen to be
sleeping in shadow of the goddess, who herself was placed into the sacred
landscape.
(More about Carrowmore)
Cairn Hill:
The documentation handed out in the visitor centre stated how �the viewer
who stands on Maeve�s Cairn on Knocknarea can watch the sun or full moon
rise over Lough Gill, which translates as �The Lake of Brightness� at the
equinox. Then at sunset, the observer may stand on Cairns Hill, another
important megalithic site just south of Sligo Town, and watch the Knocknarea
alignment.� Other observations have shown that the summit of Maebh�s Cairn
was at the same altitude as Cairn K at Carrowkeel, the other megalithic
cemetery, which is oriented to Queen Maebh�s Cairn. �If you draw a circle
from Cairn K which touches Maeve�s Cairn on Knocknarea, you would find that
it also touches Maeve�s Palace, the mound of Rathcroghan in Roscommon.
Astronomy :
The name Knocknarea means the
'Hill of the Moon'. An association which may be due to the orientation of
the nearby
Carrowkeel
Passage mound (G), and its recently realised 'light-box', towards Knocknarea
at the maximum setting of the moon, over its 18.6 year cycle.
(More about
Light-boxes)
It is clear
how the interplay of solar and lunar phenomena was transposed on
the landscape, which was woven together through sacred hills, on whose
tops were cairns, who were later identified with the tombs of gods,
particularly linked with the moon and the sun.
As such, Knocknarea (Knock na R� in Irish) is known as the �Hill of the
Moon� and Maebh must be seen as the moon goddess.
Tradition and Myth:
Knocknarea is said to be the burial place of the
wild Queen Maeve, one of the major figures in the Irish saga, the Tain Bo
Cualnge. She is said to be buried upright inside the cairn, in full battle
regalia.
(Other
Prehistoric Irish Sites)
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