hills historical ireland

About 2 miles (3 km) north of Enniskerry, the main road to Dublin passes through the Scalp - a spectacular rocky defile rising steeply on either side of the road, with huge granite boulders strewn about in wild confusion. It is a good example of a 'dry gap' formed at the end of the Ice Age when streams from glaciers cut deep drainage channels....

Dating to the 3rd millennium B.C., the site is known in Irish as Sliabh na Caillighe - 'the Hill of the Witch', legend declaring that the mounds and cairns were created by an over-flying witch dropping pebbles on the landscape. The view from atop the hills is one of subtle and varied contrasts, the rolling fertile lands of Meath stretching to the south and east, the lakelands and expansive flat plains of Cavan and the Midlands seemingly limitless as they spread towards the Shannon....

Gurtagarry Hill (461m) and Knockanora(431m), with its conical summit capped by remains of a cairn, lie left of the Bit....

Overlooking the town of Athboy is the Hill of Ward where the great Celtic Feast of Samhain (1st November) took place every year. Although the annals record the feast was held as late as 1168 (when the last Gaelic High-King of Ireland, Rory O'Connor, presided), it was in pagan times that the celebrations were at their wildest with the druids offering sacrifices and burning victims on Samhain eve.

To this day the feast of Hallowe'en is celebrated all over Ireland on the night of th...

(Cnoc an Chrochaire), the Hangman's Hill, is so called from an elevated mound east of the village, which was once a place of execution. The village was once noted for the manufacture of clay pipes from clay imported from England....

Approximately 5 miles (8 kms) north of the entrance gates to Slane Castle on the Carrickmacross road, near Lobinstown, this hill dominates the surrounding countryside. The site has many prehistoric remains, among them the outline of houses associated with 4th-century neolithic farmers. There are at least thirty other prehistoric monuments including ring forts in the district (the most prominent called the 'Cup and Saucer' can be seen on an adjoining hill). The spectacular views may explain the p...

Cairn hill is the famous Sliabh Cairbe in Annaly, Barony of Granard. It is said that Farbuide Fer Benn who revenged the killing of his mother by Medbh is buried there. The hill lies north of Longford Town, about half way between Drumlish and Ballinalee. It is about 300 metres above sea leave, and commands a panoramic view from its summit. A booster station with a 100 metres high mast for television transmission by Radio Telefis Eireann is now situated on top of the hill....

This tall mound, planted with conifers, looks like a Norman motte without a bailey. it is likely to be one of the numerous earthworks erected by the Anglo-Normans between 1177 and the mid 13th century to keep a tight hold on the lands they conquered in Co. Down. As the name Shandon is derived from the Irish words 'old fort', it is possible that the mound was built on the site of an earlier Irish fortification....

Knockmany Hill, 2 miles north west of Augher, si topped by a large passage grave with stones incised with swirling patterns. The spiral motives are similar to those at Newgrange in County Meath. A cairn was built over the top in 1959 to protect the Knockmany grave, which appears above ground in old photographs. To get inside the tomb, ask at the ranger's house at the forest entrance, though there is a general view of the stones through an iron grid. The mythological mother goddess Aine, loved by...

Knockninny Hill is a striking feature on the upper lake. The hill is a well known beauty spot and although only 600ft high, there is a fine view of the islands from the top (3 miles north of Derrylin)...