Queen Maeves Tomb Knocknarea

This massive circular, limestone cairn (diam. c. 60m; H c. 10m), named ‘Miosgan Meva’ (Maeve’s Cairn) on the OS 6-inch maps, crowns the summit of Knocknarae Mountain. Its flat-topped silhouette is a miniature version of the squat bulk of the mountain itself, which rises abruptly from the fertile coastal grasslands of the Cúil Irra peninsula, flanked by Ballysadare Bay to S and Sligo Bay to N. It is one of the most iconic archaeological monuments and landmarks in NW Ireland, its importance, past and present, manifest in the enduring folk tradition which identifies it as the burial site of the legendary Queen Maeve of Connacht.

The pale-grey cairn, rising above the dark heather-covered plateau and light-reflecting limestone escarpments of the mountain, is visible and instantly recognisable from many widespread points in the surrounding landscape. The location of the cairn itself affords panoramic views, encompassing extensive areas of county Sligo, and stretching far into counties Mayo and Donegal. Important distant landmarks which tie the cairn into an ancient network of routeways and a wider ritual and mythological landscape, include Benbulben, the cairn-topped peaks of the Ballygawley Mountains (SL020-128----; SL020-129----; SL021-007----) and the Ox Mountains (SL019-174001; SL019-174002-; SL019-177----), Cairns Hill (SL014-231001-; SL014-232----), Carrowkeel Megalithic cemetery (MA040-086---- to MA040-105----) and Kesh Corann (SL040-008----).

In its more immediate vicinity, the cairn is the dominant visual focus of a remarkably dense concentration of prehistoric ritual and settlement monuments. It is flanked on the summit by a roughly N-S linear cluster of smaller satellite tombs, cairns and mounds (SL014-076001- to SL014-076009-; SL014-076019-); the descending terraces of the mountain host huts sites (SL014-076047- to SL014-076050-), and field walls (SL014-076011-), and two caves (SL014-288----; SL014-290----) on the W flank of the mountain have produced evidence of Neolithic burials. At the foot of the mountain, the numerous passage tombs of Carrowmore megalithic cemetery (SL014-209001- , etc.), and associated monuments, spread eastwards across the undulating lowlands of Cúil Irra.

Flat-topped, with broadly sloping sides, the cairn presents a deceptively simple outline. Closer examination reveals more complexity (Berg 1995, 238-239). Although the body of the cairn is primarily limestone, a number of large gneiss boulders protrude from the perimeter at N−NE, and may be part of a kerb. Five small, low subcircular or D-shaped cairn-like concentrations of stone (diam. 8-11m; H 0.5-1m) abut the base of the cairn at E, S and W. Two large stones, a prostrate limestone slab 2m to N of the cairn, and a gneiss erratic 5.5m to S of the cairn, appear to represent deliberately placed markers on a N−S alignment. A low, inconspicuous earthen bank (Wth c. 3m; H 0.3m) encircles the cairn at a distance of 1-6m; it respects the five small cairns and the marker stones, kinking outwards to include them within its circuit (Berg 1995, 238-239).

The cairn is intact; it escaped the depredations of 18th- and 19th-century treasure hunters, and it has not been excavated. Its internal structures, therefore, remain a mystery. It is likely to be about 5000 year old, the same age as its eastern counterparts, the excavated Neolithic passage tombs at Newgrange (ME019-045----) and Knowth (ME019-030001-).

Maeve’s Cairn is a National Monument (No. 153) in state ownership.