Earthwork, Knocknarea, Co. Sligo
Co. Sligo |
Ritual/Ceremonial
Knocknarea, the broad limestone plateau rising above Sligo Bay, is most often associated with the vast cairn of Queen Maeve at its summit, a mound so large it has never been fully excavated.
Less remarked upon is the fact that the mountain carries further earthworks, recorded as separate monuments in their own right, which tend to disappear in the shadow of their more famous neighbour.
Earthworks, as a category, cover a wide range of constructed or modified ground features, from enclosures and field boundaries to the ditched and banked remains of settlements or ceremonial sites. Knocknarea as a whole is known to have been a significant place in the prehistoric landscape of the Cúil Irra peninsula, the ridge of high ground jutting into the Atlantic between Sligo town and Ballysadare Bay. The mountain and its surroundings contain a concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that suggest sustained use over many centuries, making any earthwork in this location a potentially significant piece of that longer story. The specific form, dimensions, and date of this particular feature, however, remain unrecorded in publicly available sources at present.
The summit of Knocknarea is accessible via a well-worn path from the car park at Knocknarea Glen, and the cairn of Maeve is impossible to miss once you reach the top. Anyone walking the plateau with an eye for the ground rather than the view might look for subtler traces, low banks, hollow ways, or slight changes in the texture of the grass that can indicate buried or eroded earthworks beneath.