Creevykeel

Creevykeel, a Neolithic Irish court tomb

Creevykeel is listed on the Megalithic Ireland website as being among the finest examples of a full-court tomb in ancient Ireland.  This tomb dates from the Neolithic period, which ran from 4,000 to 2,500 B.C. The site was excavated in 1935.

Shortly afterwards, the tomb was restored so we could enjoy seeing it as visitors.

The archaeological excavations uncovered four cremation burials, decorated and undecorated Neolithic pottery, flint arrowheads, polished stone axes and other artifacts, including a chalk ball.

The entrance passage

I wonder if the chalk ball was for use in writing messages from the netherworld?  Or playing tic-tac-toe?  I suppose we'll never know.

The entrance passage is narrow.  It's lined with orthostats - orthostats are tall stones set upright to form a wall. (Stonehenge is an example.)   If they are standing stones by themselves, they are called Menhirs.

The Creevykeel orthostat rocks are about 5 meters in length.  The entrance passage leads to a large oval court.

The court is also lined with orthostats that rest on the surface, rather than sitting in sockets.  

The passage to the court is lined with orthostats

                   

At one end of the court is a two-chambered gallery.  There are also three smaller chambers built into the rear of the cairn.

The Megalithic Ireland website says this:

This is an amazing site and I would strongly recommend that you take the time to visit this fine tomb the next time you are in the area.

Evidently there are lots of Megalithic sites throughout this Sligo County area of Ireland.  I had no idea!

Kathy braving the rocks

Evidently there was a kiln found inside the court area that was built at a later time period than the actual tomb.  There are evidences of iron-smelting to be found there.

The Court

The cairn is trapezoidal in shape and about 50 meters in length.  The front of the cairn is about twenty meters across.

I never knew that Ireland had these kinds of ancient sites.  I'm grateful to Lisa and her mom Kathy for letting me blog about their visit there.  It's really interesting to see!

Shotsie and Squatsie enjoyed the visit, too!

If you ever go to Ireland...

Creevykeel is situated on the N15 Sligo-Bundoran road.  It's a drive north on Donegal road from Sligo City to Cliffony.  At the second turn-off for Mullaghmore is a cross-roads, immediately after that is a carpark on the right.  The Court Tomb is located behind the wall by the carpark.

If you go, take more pictures for me, okay?  Better yet, take me along!