Lavallyconnor Castle

Lavallyconnor Castle is one of Galway's many castles, but perhaps not as well known as others.    
The castle is four stories high but has been much altered down through the years.
The chimney serves a fireplace on the second floor.
The castle is pretty much featureless - the only other detail I could see were the battlements in the second image.

The name of Lavallyconor comes from the Irish Leathbaile Ui Chonchubhair the translation of which is "O’Conor’s half town".

The ruin is located on a working farm, the road to which takes you right by the farm house.
I was lucky enough to meet the farmers wife who gave me permission to get closer to the castle.

Access:- Lavallyconor is a few minutes drive from the R347, the roads are quite narrow but you will see the ruin well in advance.
When you click on the location it gives the site out as being in Parkbaun but it falls just on the side of Lavallyconor town land.

Bocan Stone Circle

When first spotted from the road my expectations for this circle left me in a rush to get up closer for a better look. 
Sad to report this circle now has only 7 stones left standing and is pretty much a mess (see bottom image) !!.

Originally the 20 meter wide circle was thought to have 30 stones, in 1816 there were 12 stones still standing so recent times have really not been kind to this site.

Of what remains the tallest of the stones is around the 2 meter mark in height (from the 4 on the east side of the circle) the remaining 3 stones (on the west side) are smaller and are close to 1.5 meters in height.

Bocan stone circle will leave you disappointed due to the state of the site, but I would still recommend a visit for superb views.  It would not take much imagination to visualize what a stunning site this once was.

Access:-   You can see the main stones of the circle from the R238, parking will be anywhere you can find just off the main road.
From there you can reach the circle by climbing up  to the top of a field, when you get to the top you can see the circle very well.
To get closer to the circle you will need to scale a new barbed wire fence.     
  

Big thanks to Patrick McCann with putting this weeks images together (they were a bit like the circle). 

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.