Carrowmore (Irish: An Cheathrú Mhór, "the great quarter") is a large group of ancient stone monuments located on the Coolera Peninsula near Sligo, Ireland. These monuments were built about 4,000 years ago during the Neolithic period, also known as the New Stone Age. There are 30 tombs that still exist, and 25 more were destroyed after the year 1800. This makes Carrowmore one of the largest groups of ancient tombs in Ireland, and one of the "big four" important sites, along with Carrowkeel, Loughcrew, and Brú na Bóinne. Carrowmore is the center of an ancient ritual area, with the mountain Knocknarea to the west. It is a protected National Monument.
Location
Carrowmore is located on a small elevated area between 36.5 and 59 meters above sea level. It is the central part of a prehistoric ritual landscape. To the west, the mountain Knocknarea dominates the area, with the large cairn called Miosgán Médhbh at its top. To the east, in the Carns area, two large cairns overlook Lough Gill. Along the eastern edge of the peninsula, the Ballygawley Mountains have four passage tombs at their highest points.
Description
Today, thirty monuments remain at Carrowmore. More may have existed originally, but some were destroyed by quarrying and farming activities in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The site covers about one kilometre from north to south and 600 metres from east to west. Most of the monuments are smaller tombs called "satellite tombs," which surround the largest structure, a restored cairn named Listoghil, located on the highest part of the plateau.
Archaeologists classify Carrowmore, along with sites like Newgrange, Loughcrew, and Carrowkeel, as part of the Irish Passage Tomb Tradition because of the way the monuments are arranged and the materials found within them. However, Carrowmore differs from other passage tombs in some ways. For example, none of the tombs have covered tunnels, a common feature in most passage tombs, and only one monument, Tomb 51 (Listoghil), has a cairn.
In their original form, the monuments included a central stone structure resembling a dolmen, with five upright stones and a cone-shaped capstone on top. These structures enclosed a small, pentagon-shaped burial chamber. Each monument was surrounded by a circle of 30 to 40 boulders, typically made of gneiss, a type of rock. Some had a second, smaller boulder circle nearby. Stone pathways extended from the central structure, showing the direction the monuments faced. These paths did not align with compass directions but instead pointed toward the central cairn. In four cases, monuments were built in pairs.
Each monument was placed on a flat platform made of earth and stone. This design helped preserve the structures because the base of the upright stones was tightly packed with stones, keeping them stable. One satellite tomb, Tomb 27, has a cross-shaped chamber, a feature also found in later tombs like Newgrange. The roof of this tomb, now missing, may have been made of stone slabs or curved stones.
Listoghil was built around 3500 BC and is 34 metres wide. It has a box-like chamber, and the stone covering its entrance has marks that may be the only known megalithic art at Carrowmore. Three large boulders were found near the central chamber and under the cairn. These could be remnants of a destroyed passage or an older structure. Since many satellite tombs face the central area, Tomb 51 likely served as the main focus of the cemetery. This monument contained both unburned bones and cremated remains.
Research history
Gabriel Beranger visited the site in 1779 and made drawings of some monuments. These drawings are important because they show how Carrowmore looked at that time, including some monuments that are now destroyed or damaged. Many artistic depictions of the monuments from different periods are still kept. Early photographers, such as W.A. Green and R.J. Welch from the Belfast Photographer’s Club, recorded the monuments just after the start of the twentieth century.
Before these recordings, early excavations by people interested in ancient history disturbed the Carrowmore tombs. One such person was Rodger Walker, a local landlord in the 19th century. Walker did not keep good records of his work, and his digging was more about collecting items for his personal collection. Some of the items he found are now in Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. Later, George Petrie surveyed and numbered the sites in his 1837 Ordnance Survey Ireland. William Gregory Wood-Martin conducted the first recorded excavations in the 1880s.
In the late 20th century, Swedish archaeologist Göran Burenhult led excavations at Carrowmore in two separate projects, from 1977–1982 and 1994–1998. Ten tombs were fully or partially examined. One tomb, Listoghil, was studied in 1996–1998. Excavations by the National Roads Authority near Sligo, about three kilometers from Carrowmore, found evidence of a causewayed enclosure that existed at the same time as Carrowmore. Causewayed enclosures are a type of Neolithic structure found in Europe.
The Carrowmore burial items are similar to those found in other Irish passage tombs. These items include pins made of antler or bone with mushroom-shaped heads, beads, pendants, and stone or clay balls. Quartz was often found with the burials, suggesting it had special meaning in the passage tomb tradition. The discovery of antler pins and shellfish in the tombs might mean the earliest monuments were built by people who lived by hunting and gathering. However, small amounts of Neolithic pottery, called Carrowkeel ware, found at the sites also suggest some influence from farming communities.
Inside the tombs, remains of many people were found. Most Neolithic burials at Carrowmore were cremations. Later, during the Bronze Age and Iron Age, the chambers were sometimes used again for burials and to place objects.
The small Carrowmore dolmens were not covered by large stone piles, called cairns, even though some people once thought they were. Evidence such as stone settings near the chambers and finds of Roman and Bronze Age items suggests that cairns were not present.
Radiocarbon dates from excavations in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s by Göran Burenhult caused debate because he believed the monuments were built by hunter-gatherers. For example, a sample from Carrowmore 3 was dated to 5400 BC. However, later research, including 25 new radiocarbon dates and studies of ancient environments, showed the monuments were built between about 3750 BC and 3000 BC. These findings align with evidence of farming activity around the same time.
Analysis of ancient DNA from human bones found in the tombs shows connections between people buried in different Irish passage tombs. A man buried in Listoghil, Carrowmore, was found to be related to three others buried in Newgrange, Millin Bay, and Carrowkeel. Combined with evidence that this person had a diet richer in protein than most Neolithic people, this suggests he may have belonged to an elite family buried in important locations during the Neolithic period.
Discussion
Research at Carrowmore has helped us understand the order of events in the development of passage tombs in Ireland. While some important passage tomb sites in Ireland are not dated, and earlier dates have been found elsewhere, Carrowmore may be among the oldest passage tombs built in the country.
Ancient genetic studies show that farming communities spread widely from Anatolia. Archaeologists, including Richard Bradley, highlight that megaliths served as monuments, places for ceremonies and celebrations, and markers on the landscape. They also acted as memorials for specific family lines and possibly individuals from powerful groups.
Carrowmore was an important starting point and central location in a Neolithic landscape. The construction of large cairns, such as Listoghil or Miosgán Médhbh on Knocknarea, may represent a later stage of megalith-building, with greater size and ambition than the earliest passage tombs. The Cúil Irra peninsula and its surrounding areas are filled with tombs, often located on hilltops. This inspired Stefan Bergh to call the area the "Landscape of the Monuments."
Dump crisis
In 1983, Sligo County Council planned to build a landfill near a quarry site about 100 yards from part of the Carrowmore complex. Five local residents challenged this decision in the High Court in Dublin later that year. The court allowed the council to continue its plans but required certain conditions to be met. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, which ruled against the council in 1989.
A key part of the Supreme Court’s decision was that it was the first time the law officially recognized the concept of an architectural landscape. This ruling expanded legal protection for a national monument to include the surrounding area.
Visitor centre
In 1989–90, the government bought about 25 acres (10 hectares) of land where several monuments and a small cottage were located. The cottage was turned into a visitor center managed by the Office of Public Works. This change marked the first step in opening the Carrowmore archaeological complex to the public. Later land purchases made most of the site owned by the public.
The small farmhouse is near the R292 road, about 2 km (1.2 miles) east of Ransboro crossroads. It has an exhibition and offers guided tours and self-guided tours in several languages from March to October for visitors exploring the Carrowmore megaliths. Most of the tombs are reachable from the farmhouse.