Saturday 17th May, Car pooling from McDermot’s Pub, Castlebaldwin at 10.00am (Please note time not as programme)

Outing to be led by Dr Robert Hensey (contact person Sally Siggins, sallysiggins@gmail.com)

Carrowkeel is a cluster of passage tombs in south County Sligo, Ireland. They were built around the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic era. The monuments are on the Bricklieve Hills (An Bricshliabh, ‘the speckled hills’), overlooking Lough Arrow, and are sometimes called the Bricklieve tombs. They are named after the townland of Carrowkeel in which most of them are located. Nearby are the Caves of Kesh and Heapstown Cairn. The Carrowkeel tombs are protected National Monuments and are considered one of the “big four” passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland, along with Carrowmore, Brú na Bóinne and Loughcrew.

A reasonable level of fitness is required as the walk is roughly 5km on hilly and uneven ground. Also appropriate footwear and weatherproof clothing will be required

Leader

Dr Hensey  is Adjunct Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Galway.
He was Chairperson of the ‘Sligo Neolithic Landscapes’ group for seven years and led a successful UNESCO World Heritage Site Tentative List bid for County Sligo.
He was previously employed by the Office of Public Works for over ten years as a Guide/Heritage Officer.  He is a national authority on prehistoric funerary archaeology in Ireland and Atlantic Europe.