hills historical ireland

Uisneagh Hill is about 11 miles from Mullingar on the R390. On this hill can be found the Catstone or "Ail Na Mearainn", said to be the meeting point of the five ancient provinces of Ireland. This is the hill on which King Tuathal Teachmar erected his royal palace in the second century. An imposing hill, 180 metres high, "Uisneagh" provides a magnificent view of the midlands. It was the seat of the High Kings of Ireland for 200 years prior to the coming of St. Patrick and the geat paga...

In an excellent state of preservation, this extensive hill fortification dates from the 8th century B.C....

This tall mound, planted with conifers, looks like a Norman motte without a bailey. it is likely to be one of the numerous earthworks erected by the Anglo-Normans between 1177 and the mid 13th century to keep a tight hold on the lands they conquered in Co. Down. As the name Shandon is derived from the Irish words 'old fort', it is possible that the mound was built on the site of an earlier Irish fortification....

Knockninny Hill is a striking feature on the upper lake. The hill is a well known beauty spot and although only 600ft high, there is a fine view of the islands from the top (3 miles north of Derrylin)...

Gurtagarry Hill (461m) and Knockanora(431m), with its conical summit capped by remains of a cairn, lie left of the Bit....

A mound rising over 60 feet high that is said to be the birthplace of the legendary hero Cuchulain.. On the summit is the ruin of a house built in 1780.....

Cairn hill is the famous Sliabh Cairbe in Annaly, Barony of Granard. It is said that Farbuide Fer Benn who revenged the killing of his mother by Medbh is buried there. The hill lies north of Longford Town, about half way between Drumlish and Ballinalee. It is about 300 metres above sea leave, and commands a panoramic view from its summit. A booster station with a 100 metres high mast for television transmission by Radio Telefis Eireann is now situated on top of the hill....

Knockmany Hill, 2 miles north west of Augher, si topped by a large passage grave with stones incised with swirling patterns. The spiral motives are similar to those at Newgrange in County Meath. A cairn was built over the top in 1959 to protect the Knockmany grave, which appears above ground in old photographs. To get inside the tomb, ask at the ranger's house at the forest entrance, though there is a general view of the stones through an iron grid. The mythological mother goddess Aine, loved by...

The chief crowning place of the O'Neills, from the early twelfth to the seventeeth century was 2 miles outside Cookstown at Tullaghoge, headquarters of the O'Hagans, chief justices of Tyrone. There is a fine view of the old kingdom of Tyrone from the top of this tree ringed hill. The circular graveyard nearby, with a wall round it, was the O'Hagan burial place.

During the ceremony the King elect sat on a stone inaugration chair, new sandals were placed on his feet, the assembled chiefs c...

Dating to the 3rd millennium B.C., the site is known in Irish as Sliabh na Caillighe - 'the Hill of the Witch', legend declaring that the mounds and cairns were created by an over-flying witch dropping pebbles on the landscape. The view from atop the hills is one of subtle and varied contrasts, the rolling fertile lands of Meath stretching to the south and east, the lakelands and expansive flat plains of Cavan and the Midlands seemingly limitless as they spread towards the Shannon....