Heapstown Cairn is a

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

and National Monument located in

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Location

Heapstown Cairn is located on a low hill immediately west of the River Uinshin and north of Lough Arrow, northwest of Ballindoon Friary.

History

Heapstown Cairn is thought to have been constructed c. 3000 BC and may enclose a passage grave like those at the Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery, located SSE of Heapstown. In folk tradition it was the burial site of Ailill mac Echach Mugmedóin, brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages. One account of the cairn's construction is given in the Second Battle of Moytura. Dian Cecht, healer to the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuatha Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic ...

, puts healing herbs into the Well of Sláine, and the Tuatha Dé Danann drink from it. The

Fomorians The Fomorians or Fomori (, Modern ) are a supernatural race in Irish mythology, who are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings. Originally they were said to come from under the sea or the earth. Later, they were portrayed as sea raider ...

, on a suggestion from the warrior Ochtriallach, fill it with stones to keep their enemies from using it. Thus it is known as ''Carn Ochtriallach'' "Ochtriallach's cairn." In 1837, when it was illustrated by George Petrie, it stood to its full height and had a standing stone on the summit. However, much of the stone has been removed since then for road-building by the time it was illustrated by William Wakeman in 1878.

Description

The cairn is in diameter and about 10 meters high, and is composed of locally quarried chunks of limestone mixed with blocks of red sandstone. There is a kerb of huge

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

blocks around the edge of the cairn. The monument has been extensively quarried on all sides except the southeast, which probably contains an undiscovered passage grave beneath the cairn. Passage grave style megalithic art was discovered on a south-facing kerbstone in 1998.

References

{{reflist National monuments in County Sligo Archaeological sites in County Sligo