Grianán of Aileach

Grianan of Aileach has got to be in the top five for locations of historic sites in Ireland.
The views from all round are nothing short of stunning, Lough Foyle, Lough Swilly and miles upon miles of superb landscapes of the Inishowen Peninsula.

The cashel is over 23 meters in diameter, with the walls near 4 meters in width and reaching up to 5 meters in height.
The walls have 3 interior walkways and can be reached by several stairways.

The history of the site of Grianán of Aileach is thought to date back to 1700 BC.
It is linked to the legend of Tuatha de Danann, who invaded Ireland before the Celts.
The original cashel is thought to have been built between the 5th - 10th Century's.

The Grianán of Aileach has undergone many transformations in its history.
Dismantled by the warriors of Murtogh O Brien - who ordered his men to take away the remains stone by stone.
Later came the (much maligned) 1837 reconstruction work of Dr. Bernard.
More recently there was a controversial stabilization scheme (which was even more maligned) undertaken by the OPW in 2007.

Grianán of Aileach may have many critics as it is very different to the well known Cahergal Stone Fort . 
But for all the restoration work carried out this is still a quite stunning site that I would strongly recommend.

Access: The site is very well signposted from the N13 (and can be seen well in advance) parking is not a problem.                  

Dysart O'Dea Round Tower and Church

The Round Tower and Church of  Dysart O'Dea dated 12th Century, can be found in a lovely setting just a short drive from Ennis Co Clare.

The round tower rises to over 14 and a half meters (at its highest point).
The doorway is 4.5 meters from the base and is arched with six blocks.
There are two slit windows at ground level (a patch up job ?), which give you a good view of the inside.

The stand out feature of the church is the Romanesque doorway.
There are 19 stones in this arch which are carved with twelve human heads and nine heads of animals. 
The present church stands on the site of an early Christian monastery founded by St. Tola in the 8th century.

The site also has a High Cross to the east of the church, which I was unable to photograph due to it being 'guarded' by a prize bull.


Access
The site is signposted from the R476 and from that you take a narrow road which brings you to the tower and church. 

Parking is not a problem.

Burt Castle

Burt Castle stands proud on a hill called castlehill overlooking Lough Swilly.
The castle is thought to have been built  in the the 16th Century, during the reign of Henry VIII.  
Coinage which dates from Henry VIII's era & with the armorial bearings of The O'Doherty's has been found close by. 

The three storied castle is built from rough rubble and all of the inner floors have fallen in. 
The quadrangular structure has circular towers at its alternate angles, with the walls said to be 1.5 meters thick at the base.
The towers can be climbed with some care and give you an idea as to why Burt still stands strong.

Access:-
The ruin is on private land.
I came off the N13 - the main Derry Letterkenny  road, (castle can be seen from this road).
I managed to come at the castle from the side, so a stiff climb, a ditch, some nettles and a barbed wire fence accounted for the first field  with the second field similar but without the stiff climb.   










  

Gortnavern Portal Tomb

Gortnavern is a stunner of a tomb and although the capstone has slipped back it is being kept in place by one of the side stone's that has fallen in.
The long thin capstone is over 3 and a half meters long and the two portal stones are 2 meters in height.
This tomb gives you many different shapes when viewed from all sides, and all of them are very striking.

Gortnavern's real problem (apart from access) is the gorse growing all around the tomb, to give you an idea how bad this is - if you look at the small image I was stood in the open patch just below the tomb " but I could not see any part of the tomb ".

Access"
This is where your going to have some fun !

This tomb can be tackled in a couple of ways, and both of them are far from easy !!
The way I found this tomb I could only recommend if you are willing to battle it out.

I saw no sign's for this tomb so I got lucky when the tomb was spotted from the car driving up the road.
I came at the site from the East which involved crossing a strong stream and then battling my way through some gorse to finally arrive at the tomb.
Leaving the site I could not find the part of the stream that I crossed at, so I walked alongside the stream back down towards a farmhouse where I met the farmer who very kindly drove me back up to my car.        

 



   

Beltany Stone Circle

Beltany Stone Circle is a site that looks big (even on small images), but it is only when you walk up to the circle you realise how massive this site is !!

The circle consists of 64 stones and may have had as many as 80 stones originally.

The diameter of the circle is close to 45 meters with the centre having a raised platform.

The site was much disturbed at the beginning of the last century which resulted in many of the stones getting pushed outwards.

Some of the stones in the circle have an average height of 2 meters along with the outer stone which is 20 meters S/E of the circle.

The site is very well signposted from Raphoe with a few minutes walk from the parking area to the circle.









   
 

Kildare Round Tower

Kildare Round Tower rises to an impressive 32 meters in height.
The tower was constructed from Wicklow granite and local limestone.
This tower is from the 12th Century and is said to have been built on the ruins of an earlier tower.

The doorway is without doubt the standout feature of the tower.
It is 4.5m from ground level and has the remains of some Romanesque motifs.
The tower (which is the second highest in Ireland) can be climbed in the summer for a small charge.

The grounds also contain St Brigid's Cathedral, a High Cross and the remains of St Brigid's Fire Temple.
Opening times for the tower are  May to Sept 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm, Sunday is just 2pm to 5pm.

Ardamore Stone Alignment & Standing Stone

Ardamore stone alignment consists of three standing stones, which is over 7 meters in length.
The tallest of the three is 3 meters in height with the other two just over 2 meters.
The alignment is claimed to be orientated on the setting sun at the Winter Solstice.  
The setting for this site could not be more stunning with great backdrops in every direction (on a clear day).

The standing stone is in the same field as the alignment and is equally impressive.
This beast of a stone is north-east of the alignment and is located in the bottom part of the field.
The stone is close to 3 meters in height and is 2 meters in width.
One side of the stone is decorated with art motifs, to see these markings click on this link to Megalithic Ireland .
Finding this great site is pretty easy I asked for permission at the farm and walked up the rough road (about 4 minutes).