In County Meath, Ireland, close to Oldcastle, lies a historically significant location known as Loughcrew or Lough Crew. Perched atop a range of hills, it is home to a collection of prehistoric tombs dating back to the fourth millennium BC, some of which are embellished with unique megalithic art. Slieve na Calliagh, the combination of the hills and tombs, is the highest point in Meath. It is a designated National Monument and one of the four principal passage tomb cemeteries of Ireland. The Loughcrew Estate, which gives the area its name, is also located there. At Loughcrew, there exist the remnants of around twenty ancient tombs. It is among the four primary passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland, with Carrowmore, Carrowkeel, and Brú na Bóinne. Four hilltops—Carnbane East, Carnbane West, Carrickbrack, and Patrickstown Hill—are home to the megalithic monuments. Together, these hills and the tombs are referred to as Slieve na Calliagh, which translates to Mountain of the Cailleach, the mythological hag of Ireland. According to legend, the monuments were made when a gigantic hag lost her load of big stones from her apron when she was walking across the area. Although a thorough dating procedure has not been carried out there, the approximate age of the monuments is 3300 BC. The monuments are made up of cruciform chambers that were formerly all covered in mounds. There are petroglyphs in a distinctive style that include circles, some encircled by radiating lines, and lozenge and leaf patterns. The native green gritstone, which was sufficiently pliable to be carved, is typically used for the orthostats and structural stones of the monuments. According to Irish legend, damaging or disrespecting such tombs is unlucky and may result in a curse. Nonetheless, security patrols have been implemented and a few of the Loughcrew tombs have been the target of graffiti vandalism. [Information and Image Credit : Loughcrew, Wikipedia] [Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loughcrew ] [Image : Cairn S and Cairn T; Wikipedia-Image Author : Rob Hurson] [Image Availed Under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License; (Please Relate to Individual Image URLs for More Usage Property and Sharing, Remixing or Attributing the Work)] [License-Link : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en ] [Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cairns_S(%3F)_and_T,_Loughcrew.jpg ] #History#Architecture
Heritage and Geographical Sites
