Carrowmore (An Cheathrú Mhór)

One of the largest and oldest megalithic cemeteries in Ireland.

Carrowmore holds a great cluster of passage tombs, dolmens and stone circles on the Cúil Irra peninsula, some older than Newgrange. It lies in the shadow of Knocknarea, crowned by the cairn said to be Queen Medb's grave.

At a glance

• Major megalithic cemetery
• Some tombs older than Newgrange
• Overlooked by Queen Medb's cairn on Knocknarea

In County Sligo

Carrowmore is in County Sligo, Sligeach in Irish, which means “shelly place (abounding in shells)”.

More in Sligo

• Benbulben (Binn Ghulbain): The dramatic flat-topped 'table mountain' of County Sligo, at the heart of Yeats Country and Irish legend.
• Lough Gill (Loch Gile): A wooded lake immortalised by W. B. Yeats and his 'Lake Isle of Innisfree'.

Other places of this kind

• The Cliffs of Moher (Aillte an Mhothair): Sea cliffs located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region.
• Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú): A prehistoric monument in County Meath, older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids.
• The Giant's Causeway (Clochán an Aifir): Around 40,000 interlocking basalt columns on the Antrim coast, a UNESCO site wrapped in the legend of Finn McCool.
• Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch): A beautiful glacial valley of two lakes, home to one of Ireland's most important early monastic settlements.
• The Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig): A dramatic outcrop crowned with medieval buildings, once the seat of the kings of Munster.
• Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis): A great early monastery on the banks of the Shannon, once a renowned centre of learning.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Carrowmore is An Cheathrú Mhór. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.