Loughcrew
Welcome to the Magic of the Land - Loughcrew.
What can I say about it but it's another magical place in Meath to visit.
I went there so many times I lost count, but on this particular time I went there on my own to heal, to connect to a part of myself I had lost in my life.
I found that going to all these places brought me back to a time of great love and healing, spent with like minded people. We drummed and meditated in the cairns with a singing bowl and I found it to be a place of great healing and wonder.
As I walked up the steps I came across a rabbit and thought I will follow him, just like Alice in Wonderland... only the rabbit was not white and I was not Alice, or maybe I was. I felt very lost at the time.
I went there back in the summer of 2013. When I got to the top I felt like I was on top of the world, away from every thing and everyone. I could connect to my inner self by simply connecting to the land, the hill, the cairns. I used my singing bowl and tuned in with the land, very much so.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the air was fresh, the view amazing. From the top of Loughcrew, no matter what direction you looked from, it was so beautiful.
I always find I get a great female sense of Loughcrew and anytime I visit there I would come back feeling stronger within myself, more grounded, ready to face any challenge.
You see the land of our ancestors hold many energies. For instance, the story of the cailleach bheara jumpng from one hill to the next dropping stones from her apron. The fallen stones formed the cairns we see there today. She was attempting this magical feat to attain great power and rule all over Ireland. She was able to drop her cairns of stones on the first three peaks, as she jumped to the fourth she missed her mark and fell to her death on her last leap. The story claims she was buried there, where she fell on the slopes of Patrickstone Hill.
Hag's Chair, Loughcrew |
Visitors today can sit on the Hags Chair at the cairn. Locals believe claims that if you make a wish while sitting on this kerb-stone the witch will grant it. I did sit on the Hags Chair and asked my wish and looking back now today I can tell you it was surely granted, in a way I never thought possible.
You see I have come to see that we are never really lost when we find places like Loughcrew, Hill of Tara, Newgrange. There is a very deep knowing in our soul to connect to these magic places and reclaim our power.
Now that is the magic of the land.
Many blessings, Bernadette Mac
March 2020
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Additional Information....
Venue: Loughcrew
Information reviewed February 2022 & 2024
The climb to Loughcrew is very steep and visitors are asked to wear suitable footwear and to be careful. It is grazed pasture and can get muddy and slippery. Note Cairn T chamber is currently not open to the public because of safety issues.
Thanks to the OPW for this photo of Autumn Equinox sunrise 2019. In the 1980's Martin Brennan discovered that Cairn T receives light from the rising sun on the spring and autumnal equinox - a beam shining down the passageway and illuminating the rock art on the backstone.
Loughcrew near Oldcastle in Co. Meath, aka Sliabh na Cailleach, the Mountains of the Hag / Witch / Wisewoman / Crone.
- Standing in the Rath of the Synods on Tara, there is a gap, maybe an entrance way in the henge ridges and this faces the general direction of Loughcrew, which appears as low hills on the horizon.
- There is a myth / legend that the wind shared it's wisdom with the hag/witch/cailleach/feminine energy at Loughcrew and she flew from there to Tara to share it with the Ard Ri/chieftain/people.
There is a link between here and Teltown. It is said a hag lived here, she was queen of the Tailteans and the Tailtean games were played at Loughcrew. Several people of noble birth visited every year to join in these games.
Ollamh Follamh was a constant visitor at the Loughcrew hills and when he died his body was cremated and the remains were buried there. King Laoghaire also lived there and a neighbouring townland was called Drumlaoghaire in his honour. Duchas School's collection story.
A large complex of chambered cairns - many up to 5000 years old - spread across the hilltops of Carnbane East, Carnbane West, Carrickbrack and Patrickstown Hill. Carnbane is the anglicised version of Carn Bán which means white cairn.
My house is situated at the foot of "Sliabh na Callaigh" or Billy's Hill as it is called by the people. There is a cave on the top of the hill and also a huge heap of stones. King "Ollamh Fodla" and seven other kings were supposed to be buried under the cave. The stones are supposed to have been carried by a hag in her apron. There is a stone hags chair on the hill also. Many visitors come to see the hill every year. A few fields away from this hill there is a field called the "Forth Field" it got its name from a mound or forth that is in the field. The people believe that the "Bean-Shee" lives on this forth. Duchas Schools Collection
Cairn T, one of the largest tombs in the complex, is situated on Cairnbane East. Inside this tomb lies a cruciform chamber, a corbelled roof and some of the most beautiful examples of Neolithic art in Ireland. During the Vernal and Autumn Equinox people gather at dawn in Cairn T to watch sunlight enter the chamber and illuminate the inside of the tomb. OPW information on the site managed by them at Loughcrew. Click here for opening times and information for visiting the site.
Visitors today can sit on the Hags Chair at the cairn. Locals believe claims that if you make a wish while sitting on this kerb-stone the witch will grant it. I did sit on the Hags Chair and asked my wish and looking back now today I can tell you it was surely granted, in a way I never thought possible. Magic of the Land - Loughcrew - Bernadette Mac
There are no facilities or toilets at the Loughcrew Car Park. During the summer guides from the OPW are at the top to give tours and information.