This non-religious assembly involved music, dancing, faction-fighting and gathering bilberries (MacNeill 1982, 186- 7). Continue to follow the way-marked route to the right, along the boundary of the field. Only a few miles outside Sligo town, lies the caves of Keash. There has been a walkway built to make it somewhat easier to go up to the caves for tourists. This suggests that reindeer in Ireland survived until the human period. Archaeologist Neil Jackman explores two of Ireland’s most intriguing ancient sites – the Caves of Keash and Dun Aonghasa. Quartz crystals are abundant, and glacial boulder-beds can be found at the mouth of some of the caves, showing that Keshcorran was at one time buried beneath an ice sheet. The Caves Of Keash – Sligo. After passng a left turn, continue a further 250 metres up the road to a stile on the right side of the road. Provides directions, interactive maps, and satellite/aerial imagery of many countries. [1], Excavations carried out in the early 20th century, particularly those by Robert Francis Scharff, discovered significant animal remains. Follow the way-marked route from the Church car-park along the narrow road beneath Keshcorran. The excavations also discovered remains of elk, cat, shrew, and duck. The caves are often presented as being associated with the otherworld, and as places to be respected and feared. You need to follow the marked route from the Church car park along the little road that runs beneath Keshcorran Hill. On the 1838 OS 6-inch map, one cave (Cave P) is annotated Owey Cormac Mac Art. Diarmuid & Grainne, 10,000-year-old cave bears & Irish mythology The limestone caves of Kesh are located halfway up the side of a mountain near Ballymote in County Sligo. The caves are situated on the west side of Keshcorran Hill (part of the Bricklieve Mountains) and consist of sixteen simple chambers, some interconnecting. Look for Lough Feenagh on your journey, it's shaped like the map of Ireland. comm. The first literary reference to the caves is contained in the story 'Cath Maige Mucrama', which relates the birth of Cormac Mac Airt, legendary high-king of Ireland. [4], Also recovered from the excavations were the four oldest species of molluscs found in Ireland at the time, the remains of several fish, and numerous species of bird, most notably the ptarmigan, smew, and little auk. Several of the caves at Kesh, in South Sligo, were used during the early medieval period for short-term occupation, with activities concentrated at the entrances to the caves. The Caves of Keash Visitor Centre is located at The Fox's Den Bar and Restaurant servicing both The Caves of Keash and Carrowkeel Passage Tombs. The most recent discovery from the caves occurred in 1971, when a left tibia of an adult was recovered in a pool of water. For the first time in Ireland, evidence of the Arctic lemming was also discovered, drawing headlines around the country. The hill is an incredibly important site of megalithic and pre-christian heritage in Ireland. The Enchanted Cave of Kesh Corran. The earliest version of this tale was written in the 9th century (O'Daly 1975, 18), but a more complete form is contained in the 12th-century Book of Leinster (Camey 1968, 148- 61). I visited beautiful County Sligo at the weekend for a catch-up with friends and got to do a hike that had been on my list for years. [6] Another important recovery was that of a metacarpus of reindeer, discovered above an area of burnt charcoal. Lovely walk up to see the Caves of Keash with rewarding views. Five human teeth and the humerus of a male were found in the caves, and man-made artefacts that were recovered include two bone needles, a bone comb, a stone celt, an iron saw, two bronze pins, and a stone axe of adze type. 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