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Cruachan Aí & Knocknarea

This is my first attempt at a weblog. I took a few days off and headed up to sligo with my girlfriend. Headed up on the thursday morning early the weather was very bad. We stopped in Tulsk in Roscommon and visited the really great Visitor Centre there Cruachan Aí. It is a lovely centre right next to a mound. Has a good book section and I bought a few books I had wanted to get my hands on for a while. It was late in the season so it was nice and quiet. With a vague idea we headed out to have a look at the various mounds in the area. We found RathnaTarbh where the two bulls from the Tain where meant to have fought and Rathcroaghan. I've only really started to read the info I got from Rathcroaghan and it really is a wonderful area. The mounds themselves from what I can see are of interest but the folklore attached to them is brillant. Tulsk is about 2 hours from home in Tipp so I think I might make the odd saturday trip up here. I really like the area.
After this we headed up to Sligo following the pilgrims path to Knocknarea. Id passed through Sligo once before and couldn't believe how Knocknarea dominates the landscape. It would really be a great place to live, getting up every day to see the sacred hill would be very satisfying.
After checking in late afternoon we decided to take a spin out to Knocknarea but the mists had come in so we decided to head over to Carrowmore. I couldn't believe how close everything was to each other. It was after 6 so the visitor centre was closed (there is only a temporary centre at the moment the main centre is closed for refurb) so we had the whole place to ourselves with the mountains covered in mist in the background. It was really lovely and I really didnt think everything was so close to each other. We had a look at some of the main monuments and left it at that for another day.
The following day we climbed Knocknarea which is a good climb approx 327m high and the views are amazing. Again you wonder whether there is a chamber inside it. The old sign pointing up to it calls it a Chambered Cairn so I guess people do think it has something in it. Ive wondered how it has survived "excavation" so long.
On the way home on the saturday we headed on to Carrowkeel. However the weather was torrential and we only got up to see one of the cairns but really its an amazing valley. So much to see and do and I cant believe Sligo doesnt push its megalithic tourism more. Really for anyone into stones Ryanair your way to Dublin and make ur way to Sligo.

Rath Cruachan — Images

26.09.06ce
<b>Rath Cruachan</b>Posted by bawn79

Rathbeag — Images

27.09.06ce
<b>Rathbeag</b>Posted by bawn79<b>Rathbeag</b>Posted by bawn79

Rathnadarve — Images

27.09.06ce
<b>Rathnadarve</b>Posted by bawn79

Tomb 7 — Images

29.09.06ce
<b>Tomb 7</b>Posted by bawn79

Knocknarea — Images

29.09.06ce
<b>Knocknarea</b>Posted by bawn79<b>Knocknarea</b>Posted by bawn79

Carrowkeel - Cairn E — Images

29.09.06ce
<b>Carrowkeel - Cairn E</b>Posted by bawn79
bawn79 Posted by bawn79
26th September 2006ce

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