Knocknarea (; ) is a large prominent hill west of

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

town 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, with a height of . Knocknarea is visually striking as it has steep limestone cliffs and stands on the

Coolera Peninsula The Coolera Peninsula () is a peninsula in Sligo Bay, County Sligo, Ireland. It is the most populous of County Sligo's peninsulas, and the second-largest by land area. The primary population centres on Coolera are the coastal town of Strandhil ...

overlooking the Atlantic coast. At the summit is one of Ireland's largest

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 ...

s, known as Queen Maeve's Cairn, which is believed to contain a

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

passage tomb Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * Passage (2008 film), ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * Passage (2009 film), ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ...

. In recent years there has been concern that the ancient cairn, a protected

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

, is being damaged by climbers. There are also remains of several smaller tombs on the summit. Knocknarea overlooks the

Carrowmore Carrowmore (, 'the great quarter') is a large group of megalithic monuments on the Coolera Peninsula to the west of Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic (New Stone Age). There are 30 surviving tombs wi ...

tombs and is thought to have been part of an ancient ritual landscape (see Bricklieve Mountains).

Name

Knocknarea is an anglicization of an Irish name. "Knock" means hill, but the etymology of the rest of the name is disputed. The

Placenames Database of Ireland The Placenames Database of Ireland (), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, ...

gives the Irish name as ''Cnoc na Riabh'' (meaning "hill of the stripes"). However, P.W. Joyce preferred the interpretation ''Cnoc na Riaghadh'' ("hill of the executions"). ''Cnoc na Riogha'' ("hill of the kings") has also been suggested, as has ''Cnoc na Ré'' ("hill of the moon").

Maeve's Cairn

On the summit of Knocknarea is a large

about wide and high, making it the largest cairn in Ireland outside

Brú na Bóinne (, "mansion or palace of the Boyne"), also called the Boyne Valley tombs, is an ancient monument complex and ritual landscape in County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located in a bend of the River Boyne. It is one of the world's most im ...

in Meath. Although it has not been excavated by archaeologists, it has many features of a classic

.Bergh, Stefan (1995) ''Landscape of the monuments. A study of the passage tombs in the Cúil Irra region, Co. Sligo, Ireland''. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet Arkeologiska Undersökningar The cairn is flat-topped and several kerbstones can be seen on the northern side. It is believed to date to around 3000 BCE, during the

(New Stone Age). It is known in Irish as ''Miosgán Meadhbha'' (Meadhbh's heap), and in English as Maeve's Cairn or Maeve's Tomb. Meadhbh is a queen of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

, who is believed to have originally been a goddess. The ancient cairn is a protected

. In recent years, archaeologists have warned that it is being eroded by hikers climbing on it and moving or removing stones. The large number of climbers is leaving scars on the cairn and may be destabilizing the tomb inside. Irish folklore holds that it is bad luck to damage or disrespect such tombs and that doing so could bring a curse.Doherty, Gillian. ''The Irish Ordnance Survey: History, Culture and Memory''. Four Courts Press, 2004. p.89

Other monuments

There are remains of several other ancient monuments on the summit of Knocknarea. Most appear to have been small passage tombs and burial mounds. The largest is a partially-ruined cruciform passage grave about 50m north of Maeve's Cairn. In general, the tombs are lined up North–South, and they may have been built to face the

passage tombs to the east of Knocknarea. Some were severely damaged by the excavations of antiquarians in the 19th century.Bergh, Stefan. (1995) ''Landscape of the monuments. A study of the passage tombs in the Cúil Irra region, Co. Sligo, Ireland''. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet Arkeologiska Undersökningar Knocknarea seems to have been a major place of ritual and meeting in the Neolithic era. The entire hilltop on the eastern side is circumscribed by a -long embankment, wide and tall. Hut sites have been found inside this enclosure. A large amount of debris from making stone tools has been collected. The area around Sligo Bay is rich in pre-historic remains, and shares similar monuments and natural shapes. From Knocknarea can be seen other sites such as Croaghaun Mountain,

Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery Carrowkeel is a cluster of passage tombs in south County Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic era. The monuments are on the Bricklieve Hills (''An Bricshliabh'', 'the speckled hills'), overlooking Lo ...

, and Cairns Hill. Carrowmore passage tomb cemetery is at the eastern foot of Knocknarea.

References

External links

Local website
{{Mountains and hills of Connacht Mountains and hills of County Sligo Marilyns of Ireland Archaeological sites in County Sligo