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Heapstown
Cairn is located near the northern end of Lough Arrow, County Sligo,
about 3.5 km from ArrowRock Hostel, just after the Bow & Arrow Bar.
The cairn is on your right when heading towards Riverstown. You have to
cross private farm land to access the site so be sure to close the gate
and ensure any dogs are on leads.
Heapstown Cairn is one of the
largest cairns in Ireland outside of the Boyne Valley and is most
likely a passage tomb although its entrance, passage and chamber have
not been located. It is considered to be part of the Carrowkeel
passage tomb complex. As with Carrowkeel it was probably built between
5000 to 7000 years ago.
The drawing is by Wakeman in 1878 and
clearly shows that the cairn was much larger than it is today.
Apparently the cairn was quarried for some time and the stones used to
make roads, walls and surrounding houses. Sadly no trace remains
of the standing stone on the cairns summit although it was mentioned in
1937 when it was said to have fallen over.
The original size of
the cairn can be appreciated when looking at the massive kerbstone ring
which is some 60 meters in diameter.
Heapstown Cairn also features in Celtic Mythology and local folklore.
Folklore
has it that Heapstown Cairn was the grave of Aillil, brother of Niall
of the Nine Hostages, who was the ruler of the area in the 4th century
AD. In Celtic Mythology the cairn features in the accounts of a story
called the Second Battle of Moytirra (Moytura) which was fought between
the Tuatha Dé Danann, the ancient gods of Ireland, and the demonic
Fomorians.
In this story the Fomorians were a bit upset to
discover that injured Dé Danann warriors were returning to the battle,
fully healed and ready to fight again. It turned out that they were
being immersed in a healing well. The Fomorians solution to this
problem was for each of their warriors to throw a stone in the well and
deny the Dé Danann access.
Which story is the true one, either
Heapstown Cairn hides a passage tomb or a healing well? The experts
would say a passage tomb but it would be nice to think there was
a well buried there.
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