Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

Carrowmore is a scatter of megalithic tombs across low farmland outside Sligo, around thirty of them surviving from a group that was once considerably larger, quarrying and field clearance having taken the rest. Most are simple chambers of boulders inside rings of stone, small and open to the sky, and they count among the earlier monuments of their kind in Ireland. At the centre stands Listoghil, the one true cairn of the group, its chamber now exposed under a partly rebuilt mound. The whole cemetery sits in a bowl of hills, with the great unexcavated cairn on the summit of Knocknarea visible from most of the field.

What you'll find

• Listoghil - the central cairn, its chamber opened and sheltered for viewing.
• The boulder circles - rings of stone around simple chambers, dotted across the fields.
• The Knocknarea view - the unexcavated summit cairn on the skyline above the site.
• The visitor centre - a converted cottage with the finds and the sequence explained.

When to go

Opening is seasonal, roughly Easter to autumn, with the site closed for much of the winter. Dry ground makes the walk between tombs easier, since it crosses grazed fields. Morning light works best on the low stones. Sligo is quiet outside July and August, and even then the cemetery rarely feels crowded.

Things to know

The tombs are low, similar to one another and stripped of their covering mounds, so an hour of walking between boulder rings can blur into one. Some monuments sit on private land across the road and cannot be reached. The site closes for the winter, the ground gets muddy, and cattle share some fields.

Nearby

Knocknarea, Strandhill and Sligo town are all within fifteen minutes.

Key facts