Ceide Fields

Under the bog on this stretch of the north Mayo coast lies a Stone Age landscape: field walls, enclosures and house sites laid out by farmers thousands of years ago and then buried as peat spread over them. The extent is what makes it unusual, several square kilometres of organised fields rather than a single monument. The catch is that almost all of it stays under the bog, so what you see on the ground is bog, a few exposed wall lines and probing rods marking where stone lies beneath. The visitor centre explains the excavation and shows a cut face of peat. Behind it the cliffs drop straight into the Atlantic.

History

The buried stone-walled fields, enclosures and megalithic monuments have traditionally been read as a Neolithic farming landscape of the fourth millennium BCE, from radiocarbon dating and environmental study, though Andrew Whitefield has suggested that parts may be closer to later Bronze Age or Iron Age field systems; the Behy court tomb lies within the complex (Wikipedia, Céide Fields).

What you'll find

• The exposed walls - short sections of Neolithic stone wall uncovered from under the peat.
• The bog section - a cut face showing the depth of peat that buried the fields.
• The cliffs - a high headland with the Atlantic directly below the site.
• The guided walk - the only real way to make sense of what lies under the surface.

When to go

The centre opens for a limited season, typically late spring to early autumn, and the schedule has changed in recent years, so confirm before making the drive. Clear days give you the cliffs and the headlands stretching east. The site is high, treeless and open to Atlantic weather at any time of year.

Things to know

Most of the archaeology is invisible, and visitors who come expecting monuments find brown bog with markers in it. Without a guided walk the site says almost nothing. It is a long drive from anywhere, the opening season is short and has been interrupted in the past, and the cliff top is fully exposed.

Nearby

Downpatrick Head and the Ballycastle coast are close; Ballina and the Moy estuary lie east.

Key facts