Creevykeel Court Cairn

Located at Cliffoney, about 23 kilometers from Sligo on the side of the main N15 road to Bundoran, Creevykeel Court Cairn (co-ordinates 54.43900 -8.43440) is amongst the finest examples of a full-court tomb in Ireland.

To visit the cairn, which is free, drive to the second turn off for Mullaghmore (a crossroads), immediately after the crossroads is a free car-park on the right-hand side of the road. Creevykeel Court Cairn is situated behind a small wall by the car-park.

Dating from the Neolithic Period, 4000-2500 BC, Creevykeel Court Cairn was excavated in 1935, revealing four cremation burials, decorated and undecorated Neolithic pottery, flint arrow heads, polished stone axes and other artifacts, including a chalk ball.

The cairn is trapezoidal in shape, about 50 metres in length, with the front of the cairn being about twenty metres across. The cairn has a narrow entrance passage, lined with orthostats, almost 5 metres in length, which leads to the large oval court. The court is also lined with orthostats that rest on the surface rather than sitting in sockets.

At the north-western end of the court is a two chambered gallery. At the rear of the cairn there are three subsidiary chambers built into the cairn. Inside the court area a later kiln was built and during excavations evidence of iron-smelting was found.