The origins of the Carrowmore monuments reach far into prehistory - the most ancient among them is close to 6,000 years old. The Cúil Irra peninsula, surrounded by sea and mountains, was the centre of a very rich area during the Neolithic. Carrowmore, at the very centre of the peninsula, would have had a significant symbolic role for the people living here. This was the place chosen as the sacred and religious centre for the population.

One of the most important pieces of folklore explains how the Carrowmore monuments were created. Local folklore has it that the Goddess Beara flew from her home 'Teach Cailleach a Bheara' (another small passage tomb in the Ox Mountains) towards Knocknarea, carrying an apron full of stones with the intention of creating some enclosures for her animals. Unfortunately an accident befell the poor Cailleach (hag or witch) and caused a great number of the stones to fall from her apron to the ground below. They landed in several piles over the landscape of Carrowmore and these became the monuments that we see today.