Castledermot Round Tower

Castledermot is one of Ireland's more unusual round towers, the stone work and much altered top gives this tower the look of a giant turret.

The tower dated 10th Century stands to a height of 20 meters, the doorway is at ground level and cannot be seen as it now connects the tower with the modern church via a passageway.

The history of the site:-
St Dermot founded a monastery here which was plundered by the Vikings in 841 and again in 867.
Cormac Mac Cuilleannain the famous scholar, King and Bishop of Cashel was buried here after his head had been cut off in battle in 908.

The monastery was plundered in 1048, and the last known abbot of the monastery died in 1073.
Along with the tower this site has a Romanesque archway (bottom image), two high crosses (with the base of a third) and the only known hogback stone in Ireland.

With so much to offer, I would hope to share more of this site in the future.     

Broadleas Stone Circle

Broadleas Stone Circle is for me the total stand out circle of the few that can be found in Leinster.
The circle is located only a short drive from Athgreany Stone Circle
The circle has 39 stones in total.  A walk around the circle will leave you in no doubt that other stones are missing.
The width of the circle is close to 30 meters, with the biggest of the boulder stones standing at approximately 1 meter in height.
I have no doubt what helps make this site so special for me is the trees Ash, Holly and Blackthorn.
These for me all help make this circle pretty close to perfect.
Broadleas can be found just off the R411 as you travel from Ballymore Eustace to Hollywood.
The site is easiest to spot coming from the Hollywood direction.

   

Dunnaman Court Tomb

  

Dunnaman is listed as a court tomb, but all that can be seen today is the gallery.
The gallery has four chambers, with the jams very visible (image No 3).
The tomb is close to 13 meters in length and over 1.5 meters wide, it has a east-northeast alignment.
The location of this site is just off the A2 as you travel towards Kilkeel, it is well signposted and can be found in it's own enclosure.
For a tomb that is missing so much of what it should have Dunnaman is still well worth a visit.

Monasterboice

Muiredach's Cross (south cross)

The Tall Cross (west cross)

The North Cross

Monasterboice dates back to the 5th Century when St Buite founded a monastic community here.
Today a visit to this great site will bring you into contact with two church's, a round tower and three high crosses.
The round tower stands to an impressive 28 meters high despite missing its cap.
The tower is the easy way to find this site, you can see it from the M1.
The two most famous high crosses are of sandstone and are dated around the 10th Century

-Muiredach's Cross (south cross) is 5.2 meters tall, with beautiful detail on both sides.
The cross gets its name from an inscription at the base "saying it was erected by Muiredach".
 
-The Tall Cross (west cross) is Ireland's tallest high cross, it is over 7 meters tall.
This cross has detailed panels on both sides, my personal favorite is David with the head of Goliath.
  
-The third cross which is known simply as the north cross, is tucked away in its own enclosure against one of the boundary walls in the graveyard.
The head of this cross has been grafted onto a newer plain body.

Monasterboice has so much to offer, just give yourself plenty of time.

Ballyloughan Castle

This vast ruins of Ballylouhan Castle can be found just a short drive from the R724 off the main Bagenalstown  Fenagh road.
Like the nearby Ballymoon Castle very little is known about the history of Ballyloughan.
What is known or thought is that it was probably built in the 13th century.
The owners were probably the Kavanagh family who were prominent in Carlow at that time.
The fully enclosed site would have had four towers and it is though that the castle was originally surrounded by a moat.
The stand out feature of this site is the gatehouse. (From the inside you can climb to an upper level.)
Access; the castle is on private land but is well signposted from the surrounding area.
The road/lane which brings you up to the castle is quite narrow so park as close as you can to the entrance.   
   

Kilfeaghan Portal Tomb

Located about a mile off the A1 on a farm is the impressive Kilfeaghan Portal Tomb.

The real star of this site is the massive capstone, 2.5 meters long by 1.5 meters in thickness.
The capstone is said to weigh around the 35 ton mark, it rests on two portal stones which have been driven into the ground by the sheer weight of this beast of a capstone.

The tomb rests on top of a large cairn (which was mostly covered in grass on the morning of my visit).
For a better idea of the size of the cairn check this link to Jim Dempsey's great Megalithic Ireland web site.

Access - this tomb is very easy to find and is well sign posted, a walkway is provided from the farm gate.  

Dunmoe Castle

    

This great looking castle ruin sits overlooking the Boyne river.
The castle was built in the 15th Century and was home to the D'arcy family.
The original castle would have had four round turrets (only two survive).
The castle was four storeys high, with the bottom two floors vaulted.
During the Cromwellian invasion the castle was fired upon in 1649, but avoided major damage.
Fire was this castles undoing during the 1798 rebellion.
Access can be gained down a lane just off the N51.
(If visiting in winter sensible footwear will be needed as the field the leads you to the ruin can resemble a quagmire.)