Abbeyquarter Passage Tomb
Location: Abbeyquarter North, Co. Sligo
Classification: Passage Tomb
SMR Code: SL014-266----
Rating:
Situated on a roundabout in Garavogue Villas, a housing estate on the outskirts of Sligo Town is one of Ireland's strangest megalithic monuments, The Abbeyquarter Passage Tomb, or Garavogue Fairy Fort as it is known locally, dates from approximately 3500 BCE. The houses were built nearly 6000 years later in the 1940s. The remains of the tomb now consist of a circular kerb, 12m in diameter with a single stone at its centre. Two stones just outside the circle to the north may indicate an outer circle or passage. A crucifixion scene was erected in the 1950s and although some may argue that it really shouldn't be there; it is the mix of culture and religion, both ancient and modern, that makes this monument so unique.
When the monument was excavated in 1888 there were four stones recorded in the centre, with only one being visible today. Cremated unburnt bone, including human and animal teeth, some of which belonged to dog or wolf were found during excavation. The nearby Carrowmore tomb 27 had similar remains from both the Neolithic (c.4000-2400 BC) and Iron Age (c. 500 BC - 400 AD) found in it. Abbeyquarter is very similar in size and construction to many of the passage tombs at the Carrowmore, which is located only 4km Southwest.
Garavogue is also a local name for the Cailleach, the divine hag of Irish folklore. According to legend, the monuments of Carrowmore were created by the Cailleach by dropping stones from her apron as she leapt from her hilltop home, a passage tomb in the nearby Ballygawley Mountains called Teach Cailleach a'Bheara (The Cailleach's House).
Description
Situated on a roundabout in Garavogue Villas, a housing estate on the outskirts of Sligo Town is one of Ireland's strangest megalithic monuments, The Abbeyquarter Passage Tomb, or Garavogue Fairy Fort as it is known locally, dates from approximately 3500 BCE. The houses were built nearly 6000 years later in the 1940s. The remains of the tomb now consist of a circular kerb, 12m in diameter with a single stone at its centre. Two stones just outside the circle to the north may indicate an outer circle or passage. A crucifixion scene was erected in the 1950s and although some may argue that it really shouldn't be there; it is the mix of culture and religion, both ancient and modern, that makes this monument so unique.
History
When the monument was excavated in 1888 there were four stones recorded in the centre, with only one being visible today. Cremated unburnt bone, including human and animal teeth, some of which belonged to dog or wolf were found during excavation. The nearby Carrowmore tomb 27 had similar remains from both the Neolithic (c.4000-2400 BC) and Iron Age (c. 500 BC - 400 AD) found in it. Abbeyquarter is very similar in size and construction to many of the passage tombs at the Carrowmore, which is located only 4km Southwest.
Folklore
Garavogue is also a local name for the Cailleach, the divine hag of Irish folklore. According to legend, the monuments of Carrowmore were created by the Cailleach by dropping stones from her apron as she leapt from her hilltop home, a passage tomb in the nearby Ballygawley Mountains called Teach Cailleach a'Bheara (The Cailleach's House).
Accessibility Rating: Easy
The monument is on the roundabout 50m into the Garavogue Villas estate. To avoid congestion park along the riverbank that leads into the estate.
There are no facilities at this monument
Accessibility
Accessibility Class: Easy
The monument is on the roundabout 50m into the Garavogue Villas estate. To avoid congestion park along the riverbank that leads into the estate.
Facilities
There are no facilities at this monument
Map
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