Honeymoon In Ireland - Carrowmore and Knocknarea

An updated version of this site can be found here

6 July, 2008

We began the day with a run.  It's a wonderful, quiet place for a run, putting us in a great mood to start the day.  Our breakfast this morning (Seapoint House) was lacking though.  We each got 1 1/2 cups of tea (it was a tiny pot, about the size of a mug) and they never brought us more.  We also got 2 half pieces of toast each.  This was especially a problem because Sarah's "vegetarian" breakfast only had one egg and half of a small tomato included in her cooked breakfast.  We have stayed at countless places in England, Scotland and Ireland that served hot breakfast, many of them in VERY rural places.  Each time she received a full plate of a filling cooked breakfast, but not here.  It also was difficult to get someone to take our money for checkout.  All in all, we found the the house, grounds, and location wonderful, but the service at Seapoint House very disappointing.  This is the only place on our trip that we would not consider for a return visit.

Dolmen inside Stone Circle at Carrowmore

Our first stop of the day was Carrowmore.  Carrowmore is the largest megalithic cemetery in Ireland. It contains 60 tombs in total, including one that is considered to be the oldest man made structure in the world. The drive from Westport took us about 1 3/4 hours.  The weather had been wet the whole morning.  We arrived at 11:40 AM and got the 12 (noon) guided tour, which left us exactly the amount of time it took us to look at the monuments across the road.  Admission is €3, but we used our Heritage Card (which has already paid for itself on this trip). Our tour guide was Austin, and he was great.  The tour lasted 50 minutes and I can't imagine doing the self-guided tour - it must be a lot less interesting.   This is my third visit to this site and I always get a entertaining and informative tour.  This is one of the best attractions in Ireland and should be included on any "must-see" list of Ireland.  This is a kind of one-stop shop for Megalithic Ireland.  This cemetery was used for thousands of years and has just about every type of structure possible.

The largest monument at Carrowmore

The view from another angle

Queen Meabh's cairn seen on top of Knocknarea.  You can see
that is aligned with the Listoghil at Carrowmore.

 After we finished at Carrowmore, we went to lunch in Strandhill at a pub with a nice restaurant called the Venue Bar.  It was packed, but had good food that was reasonably priced.  After lunch we went to tackle Knocknarea.  At the top of Knocknarea is a cairn that is visible from Carrowmore.  Underneath the cairn (the traditional burial site of Queen Meabh) is believed to be a tomb that dates to 3000 BC, but it hasn't been excavated. She is said to be buried standing up in her armor facing her rivals in Ulster to the North.

The weather was on and off, so we got a little wet and the views were obscured some.  But it is really impressive what they built and how commanding a presence this is.  The climb takes about a half an hour and isn't too strenuous.  There are also a handful of other ancient monuments that all appeared to be aligned together.  We looked around for a while before heading back down.    There is small car park with a port-a-john that I was happy to see before we got back in the car.  We were both tired at this point and Sarah is suffering from this throat issue, so we headed to Riverstown and our stop for tonight (Coopershill House).

After you reach the top you see Meabh's mound

It wouldn't be Ireland without great signage

Arriving at Coopershill House is like entering Mount Vernon or Gunston Hall or Monticello must have been in the 1700s.  There is a 1 mile long drive lined by trees, pastures of deer, a river and then you see the house.  There is an opening in the trees that reveals a croquet lawn, a drive and a huge Manor house.  Simon (the owner) came out to help us with our bags.  His family built the house in 1774 and he still lives in it.  The house is amazing!

I'm so glad we decided to stay here!  We checked in about 4 and read, napped and showered.  About 6:30 we went for a walk down grass paths through the woods, next to the deer pastures.  It was like something from a children's story.  The place is absolutely beautiful.  Also, hanging in the hall outside our bedroom door was what I believe is a famous portrait of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford by Van Dyck.  (Though I am not an expert at all!)

Simon upgraded us to a Superior room since there are only three other guests staying.  He has been a really wonderful host.  We opted for the 5 course meal at 8:15.  It was fantastic, most of the items were grown on the grounds or at a nearby farm.  All of the main course were some sort of meat, but the chef prepared special dish for her that she loved.  After the meal they served coffee and tea in the drawing room.  The house is just beautiful, full of portraits of the family, stag heads, pikes, and other pieces of family history.  I'm going to have to try to learn more about the O'Hares!

Coopershill House

Our bedroom

Our bathroom

Obviously, staying at Simon's is expensive when compared to a B&B or Guesthouse.  We stayed here as a treat and to give us a change of pace and are glad that we did.  We loved the peace and stillness that Coopershill provided, plus Simon makes you feel like a guest in his home during your stay (versus a paying guest). The house is deservedly featured in many guidebooks including Karen Brown, Ireland's Blue Book and The Bridgestone Guide.  If you are looking for something upscale this is certain to please you.



One of the reasons we chose to stay on this side of Sligo was the proximity to Carrowkeel.  Carrowkeel is another megalithic cemetery (similar to Carrowmore).  The thing that I love about this place is that the tombs (14 of them) are all accessible for you to crawl into and see on your own.  It's free and easy to get to, though the road is very rough and requires you to leave your car and walk a fair way to the top.  The highlight on my visit was taking shelter from a rain storm in the tomb that has the roofbox.  Only Newgrange is thought to also have this feature included.  The roofbox here is aligned to the midsummer sunset (usually in June) making it a great visit after Newgrange in the summertime.  Carrowkeel is probably best appreciated after seeing Newgrange, but would be impressive even on its own.  We were too worn out by this point to squeeze in a visit this trip (and Sarah was fighting through a nasty cold), but I plan on a visit next time I'm passing by.


Day 8 Ireland Itinerary

Carrowmore (1 3/4 hrs from Westport)
Knocknarea (15 minutes from Carrowmore)
Coopershill House, Riverstown, Co, Sligo (30-35 minutes from Knocknarea)

Megalithic Wonderland in Sligo

An updated version of this site can be found here

July 1, 2000

Yesterday I left Westport at 8 AM. It took me an hour and a half to get to the Ceide Fields. Ceide Fields is the most extensive Stone Age site in the world, containing fields, houses and tombs. The walls built for the fields are the oldest in the world (about 5500 years old). It's supposed to open at 9:30 AM, but there was no one around and since I've been twice before, I left. It was super foggy on the drive out there.

On the way back, I had to pull over to wait for these ladies to change fields.

After that, I went to Carrowmore and had another good tour guide (have had one on each visit). Carrowmore is the largest megalithic cemetery in Ireland. It contains 60 tombs in total, including one that is considered to be the oldest man made structure in the world. This was my second visit to the site, and the thing that made this a "can't miss" stop both times has been my tour guide. They have both been intelligent, personable and enthusiastic. I do wish I had waited at Ceide Fields though.

After visiting Carrowmore I went down the road to Maeve's Mound. At the top of nearby Knocknarea, is a giant tomb (180 feet by 33 feet) that is rumored to be the grave of Queen Maebh. The tombs on this hill all appear to face the cemetery at Carrowmore, and the cairn (a stone covered passage tomb) at the top is visible from Carrowmore. The climb only took me 25 minutes. This cairn was gigantic! I couldn't believe how big it was! Seeing this cairn in the middle of Carrowmore would have been even more breathtaking (There is a partial cairn in Carrowmore). It must have taken absolutely forever to build Maeve's Cairn. Local tradition says that to take a stone from the bottom of the hill to the top and to place it on the cairn is good luck, so I did.

The path from the carpark goes through a farmer's pens and I did have to wait again for a couple of cows to pass. There is also a toilet in the car park. That could be important if you don't use the one at Carrowmore!

I went ahead north to Donegal next. Having never been, I was excited about this next stage of my journey. Donegal has the reputation of being more wild and even more beautiful than the rest of Ireland. Driving up the coast from Sligo though, it didn't look radically different from County Sligo. That all changes as you penetrate deeper into the county though. As I approached Donegal Town I began to understand what all of the talk was about.

As I exited Donegal Town though, I ended up behind a tractor that was hauling a trailer of manure. By the time we were out of the round about, the side of my car was decorated with manure. The poor car now has one mirror and is covered in manure.

I arrived at Ball Hill Hostel about 2:45 PM. It's a converted Coast Guard Station with a breathtaking view. No one was there when I arrived, so I went for a run down the coast (the tide was out), what a gorgeous place! After I ran, I had to wait for Kevin (the man who runs the hostel). He showed up a little while later and I checked in and showered.  EDIT:  The hostel is now closed.

After my shower I went into Donegal Town and booked the Walking Tour that is offered by the Tourist Office (£3). I was the only one who showed up, it was great. It was a good tour, I hope that it will catch on. I stayed in town, ate dinner and returned to the hostel.

This place is great. It has a great kitchen and dining room. On the next story is the common room with loads of nice chairs to lounge in, a TV, a chess board, a bunch of books, etc. and it opens onto an observation deck that commands quite a view of the bay. In the kitchen they have placed on the walls (or I should say, "plastered") all kinds of extremely informative tidbits, including the fastest route to Dublin which actually goes through Enniskillen! That will help me a lot in August.

As night approached, I went to the Diamond (the center of town) and the Voyage Bar for the Town Festival. It was okay, but kind of disappointing. They had bands performing on a stage in the center of the Diamond. They were all fine, but that was essentailly all that was happening. All of the pubs had music in them as well. The Voyage Bar had a band playing covers from the 70s and 80s for the most part.

Today (Saturday), I packed up and left the hostel and then went on the boat tour of the harbor. The tour of the bay on the Waterbus was fantastic. We pulled up next to a colony of seals basking on a sand bar and could see the hostel from the boat. This was a can't miss type of experience. I'm glad I decided to go!

Now, it's off to Oideas Gael. I have no idea how long it will take to get there, so I ate lunch at the Blueberry Tea Room. What a great little restaurant! They have an internet cafe upstairs, so I checked my email before I left (about 2 PM).