The Irish Times

The story of Irish archaeology begins with the dramatic megalithic tombs and burial grounds. Extraordinary field monuments such as portal and court tombs adorn the landscape, as do individual standing stones and stone circles, while rings forts, or raths, of which there are about 3,000, are the most common.The great passage tombs, such as Newgrange, the passage tomb cemeteries of Loughcrew, Co Meath, Carrowkeel, Co Sligo, and the megalithic tombs of Carrowmore, also in Co Sligo, all testify to the dignity and honour the ancients awarded their dead.