Ballykeel Dolmen
Situated in Ballykeel, Co Armagh is this wonderful example of a tripod
dolmen. This capstone is the only one in Northern Ireland to be reerected, both it and the door-slab were replaced during excavations in
1965. Neolithic pottery, flint and a javelin head have been found here.
Charcoal found at the site has been dated to almost 2000 BC.
Corliss Fort
It is a massive rath about 40m across square rather than the usual
circular shape. Within this enclosure there was a large wooden hut.
Outside is a deep ditch and a large outer bank. There is a clear entrance
causeway in the east with a second smaller causeway in the south-west.
Just off centre is the entrance to a small L-shaped souterrain at least
10m long and 1m square throughout. Excavations in 1939 revealed a few
pieces of bone. Postholes were found along the outer edge of the inner
bank. They were about 50cm deep and wide and suggested the former
presence of a substantial timber palisade. The rath is surrounded by
mature beech trees which obscure the details when viewed from a
distance. The boys went into the souterrain and were amazed by the size
of the structure, particularly the depth of the ditch.
Annaghmare Court
Situated on a rocky outcrop west of Slieve Gullion, Annaghmare court
tomb is one of the finest surviving examples of its kind in Ireland. The
townland of Annaghmare gets its name from the Gaelic Áth na Marbh
meaning ‘the ford of the dead’. The tomb is known locally as ‘the Black
Castle’ and is said to have been the site of many ghostly apparitions.
When it was excavated in the 1960s archaeologists found human bones,
pottery, flints and, interestingly, bear teeth. Court tombs get their name
from a semi-circular forecourt defined by several large stones which
leads into a series of burial chambers. The court suggests that they were
used as both tombs and ritual sites. These tombs were normally covered
by cairns (great mounds of earth and stone). Court tombs are the first
type of megalithic monument to have been built in Ireland and date from
around 4000-3000 BC . There are almost 400 surviving court tombs in
Ireland which are found almost exclusively in the northern third of
Ireland – in Ulster and north Connacht. They boys went into the tomb and
were amazed at the size and good condition of the cairn.
Kilnasagart Pillar Stone
A Stone sculpture that has a long tradition in Irish prehistory. This is the
oldest dateable Christian stone monument, the Kilnasaggart Stone,
marked with crosses and Latin inscription, is thought to date to c.700 AD.
It can be found 2 kms from Jonesborough, Co.Armagh, in the town-land
of Edenappa, close to the Louth border. The tall granite pillar marks the
site of an early cemetery on one of early Christian Ireland’s ‘main roads’,
which ran from Drogheda through the Moyry Pass to Dunseverick in
Antrim. The pillar is about eight feet high Excavations in the 1960s
uncovered an Early Christian cemetery with both stone and dug graves,
facing east-west, near the pillar. It is thought that there had been once
an ogham inscription on the pillar and, since the name Kilnasaggart
signifies the "Church of the Priests", it was removed by the priests not
wanting a pagan monument within the church grounds. The boys couldn’t
believe that such beautiful Christian monuments dating back to
approximately 714 existed so near them.