Ben Bulben
Legendary home of the Irish third century warriors known as the Fianna, Ben Bulben (or Benbulben, Benbulbin, Binn Ghulbain) is a large glacial rock formation in the Darty Mountains.
Country and County: Republic of Ireland
Malahide Castle
Malahide Castle dates from the 12th century and is reputedly haunted by five distinct ghosts. Sir Richard Talbot, Lord of Malahide founded Malahide Castle in 1185 after he had been granted the "lands and harbour of Malahide" from Henry II, after taking part in the Kings campaign in Ireland. The Talbot family remained in the castle until 1975.
Knockinarea
Knockinarea is the name of the prominent mountain on the Cuil Irra peninsula to the west of Sligo, County Sligo. The name of the hill has been interpreted as: The Hill of the King, The Hill of the Moon and The Hill of the Executioner amongst other things, and dominates the views from miles around.
IRISH FOLKLORE COMMISSION 1935-1970 : History, Ideology, Methodology
IRISH FOLKLORE COMMISSION 1935-1970 : History, Ideology, Methodology [Micheal Briody] Between 1935 and 1970 the Irish Folklore Commission (Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann), under-funded and at great personal cost to its staff, assembled one of the world’s largest folklore collections.
The Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara – ancient seat of the Kings of Ireland – is the focal point in a complex landscape of ancient monuments dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. It is a stirring setting where mythology and history fuse together, and has been revered as a holy site for thousands of years.
Poulnabrone Dolmen
The Poulnabrone Dolmen is a portal tomb dating back to Neolithic times (2500BC). The thin capstone is about 12’ in length and is supported 6’ from the ground by two portal stones.
The Dobhar-chu
The Dobhar-chu or water hound is a lake dwelling creature of Irish Folklore. It is covered in short white fur with a dark cross on it’s back and described as being like a dog or a large sea otter.
Gallarus Oratory
Ireland has a history of early Christian settlement dating as far back as the 6th century when monastic settlements were developed as bastions of the faith in the remote Irish countryside. Gallarus Oratory is the oldest and best preserved example of an early church that served one of these small settlements, and is probably one of the oldest intact buildings in Ireland.
Under Ben Bulben by William Butler Yeats
Swear by what the Sages spoke
Round the Mareotic Lake
That the Witch of Atlas knew,
Spoke and set the cocks a-crow.
Swear by those horsemen, by those women
Complexion and form prove superhuman,
That pale, long-visaged company
That air an immortality
Completeness of their passions won;
Now they ride the wintry dawn
Newgrange
If we were making a list of the top 100 ancient sites in Britain and Ireland (as is the current vogue) Newgrange would undoubtedly be in the hallowed top 10. Its great age, size, astronomical features and location in the beautiful Boyne Valley, mark it as one of the most important ‘mystery’ sites in Europe.
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