The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

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Kilmashogue and Larch Hill


Finished work at 6 and headed for home. Got the ixus and headed for Kilmashogue wedge tomb. Plans were to see Kilmashogue (very easy to find) and then double back and see Kilakee wedge tomb (not very easy to find and didn't want to spend my whole evening lost in Massy's forest).

Kilmashogue Wedge Tomb — Images

15.05.06ce
<b>Kilmashogue Wedge Tomb</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Kilmashogue Wedge Tomb</b>Posted by ryaner

Kilmashogue was a surprise. The usual detritus that's found in the Dublin mountains was an annoying distraction. I've no objection to people camping out and enjoying a few beers around a campfire, but come on, clean your crap up after you. (This has been a recurring annoyance for me since moving to Bohernabreena – the amount of burned-out cars, the ubiquitous empty beer cans and just the general disrespect and dumping of peoples' shite around the beautiful countryside of the Dublin/Wicklow mountains... rant, rant, rant.....)

After doing a small clean up I surveyed the site. The trees block any of the significant views but enclose the tomb in a relatively private space. Did I find peace here? A little, after I calmed down and focussed on the stones. I climbed a beech tree and got a some nice shots of the tomb from above and decided to head for Kilakee.

Looking at FourWind's notes for Kilakee I decided against it and opted to sneak into LarchHill scout camp to see if I could find the portal tomb there (the camp was quiet).

Kilmashogue — Images

12.05.06ce
<b>Kilmashogue</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Kilmashogue</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Kilmashogue</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Kilmashogue</b>Posted by ryaner

I had spent some time in the camp as a youngfella scout and know my way around the place. How did I miss this beautiful relic of our past back then? I can only say that I was using different eyes. The immensity of the capstone was breathtaking. How did they get it up there?

I was moved by this monument; the trickle of the little brook; the small copse of large larch trees; the huge ancientness of the collapsed stones. I got the same feeling here that I've felt at a lot of these sites: sadness and loss. At Ballymaice last Sunday, on Seefin Hill, around Dowth – a feeling of excitement and respect tinged with that sadness and loss. Oh well. So where next? Maybe, if I have the time, I'll try Kilakee.

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April 2006 part 2 (Loughcrew)


April 13
We were searching for rock-art but we are complete amateurs. However, this was only a setback when we realised what we were missing by not having the key to cairn T. Exploring the site 'blind'ish (blindish because we had the book though we hadn't read all Cary Meehan had to say) was fun. Our first 'discovery' were the heavily decorated 2 stones on the left of the entrance to cairn T. We had found our spirals! The gate at the entrance blocked our ability to to get good shots as Oscar's camera wouldn't fit through the bars. Leaving the frustration behind we headed for Cairn V.

There is a beautiful concentric circle carving at the base of one of the standing stones (kerbstones? orthostats? Have to work all this out yet). Having been inside Newgrange and been told that we couldn't photograph anything, we were now like the proverbial kids in a candy-shop.

Róisín wandered off as we were photographing Cairn V. She'd gone to Cairn U and 'discovered' the decorated stones in the arms of the cross. Well done Róisín! The wind had really picked up at this stage and Oscar was freezing. I noticed the cold but didn't really feel it as I was busily snapping everything (digital cameras hooray). Also, I didn't want to leave the place, a sensation that I have since experienced at other sites that I've visited. There is so much to see and do on Carnbane East that a return visit with more time is a must.

As we were leaving a local man showed up with 2 of his grand-children. They headed for the entrance to Cairn T but no-such-luck, they hadn't got the key.

The views from this hill-top were stunning. Looking across to Carnbane West we could only wonder at what treasures it held. That's a story for another day…

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April 2006


I've gotten into this through a friend of mine from the Canary Islands. There is some rock art on the island of La Palma and he wanted me to show him some of our Irish examples. He came to Ireland for 20 days at the beginning of April and so off we set. I had no experience of investigating ancient sites save for a school trip to Newgrange, a time before the visitor centre and the re-construction of the tomb.

Where we went: Newgrange (not Knowth or Dowth), Crossmaglen and South Armagh, Belfast, the East and North Antrim coasts, the Giant's Causeway (had been here years before), Derry, Glenveagh Mountains, Errigal and the Devil's Glen in Donegal and back to Dublin.
Where we went 2: Slieve Bloom mountains, Moher, Kinvara, Galway City, Inis Mór, Galway City and back to Dublin.

At this stage I was getting a slight education in megalithics. We were using Sacred Ireland by Cary Meehan (Gothic Image Publications) on our travels and LoughCrew was calling. We headed there with my daughter and dog. I read that we needed to get the key to Cairn T on Carnbane East but gave up trying to find Loughcrew Gardens & Estate as I didn't know the extent of what I would be missing without the key. A word of advice: get the key!! The climb from the car-park is easy (well, easy in comparison to the climb to Seefin Hill Passage Tomb).

The fenced in site on Carnbane East is stunning. It was an intermittently sunny and cloudy day with a strong wind the day we were there.

Dún Dúchathair — Images

04.05.06ce
<b>Dún Dúchathair</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Dún Dúchathair</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Dún Dúchathair</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Dún Dúchathair</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Dún Dúchathair</b>Posted by ryaner
Previous 5 | Showing 11-13 of 13 posts. Most recent first
Taxi-driving, graphic artist with a penchant for high hills and low boulders. Currently residing in Tallaght where I can escape to the wildernesses of Wicklow within 10 minutes.

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