Loughcrew Cairns

Loughcrew spreads across the summits of the Slieve na Calliagh hills: around thirty passage tombs raised around 3200 BCE, the same era as Newgrange, holding the largest concentration of megalithic art in the Boyne country with a signature of rayed circles and sun symbols picked into the stones. Cairn T sits at the center of the scheme, its passage aligned so that on the spring and autumn equinoxes the rising sun travels the corridor and strikes the carved back stone of the chamber. The cairns carry their own folklore: the Cailleach, the hag of the hills, is said to have dropped them from her apron in a leap across the ridge.

The hills are open year-round and the climb, though short, is steep and exposed; the reward is the densest decorated-stone experience in the region and the fact that, outside high summer, you often have it alone. Access to the interior of Cairn T is currently closed for conservation works, so the equinox beam inside the chamber is off the table for now; the exterior cairns and other monuments on the hill are unaffected. Check the official notice before planning a visit around the equinox.

Visiting

Meath County Council's heritage page carries the current access notice, including the Cairn T closure; the Loughcrew Megalithic Centre below the hill is the practical base.

Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Loughcrew), CC BY-SA 4.0.