Loughcrew Cairn, The Hill of the Witch

“Determined now her tomb to build,

Her ample skirt with stones she filled, 

And dropped a heap on Carnmore;
Then stepped one thousand yards, to Loar, 

And dropped another goodly heap; 

And then with one prodigious leap

Gained Carnbeg; and on its height

Displayed the wonders of her might.

And when approached death’s awful doom, 

Her chair was placed within the womb 

Of hills whose tops with heather bloom.”
Jonathan Swift, 1720

Like the better known Newgrange, Loughcrew (Sliabh na Caillíghe–The Hill of the Witch) is a passage tomb constructed in the Neolithic period, sometime before 4000 B.C.

More accurately, Loughcrew is a complex of passage tomb cemeteries, over 30 of them known, spread out over two miles of the Sliabh na Caillighe hills, making it the largest Neolithic necropolis in
Ireland.

Also like Newgrange, Knowth and Howth, the three better known sisters to the east, Loughcrew was created with precise attention to astronomical motion. However, unlike those sites which are aligned with the Winter and Summer solstice celebrating the return of the Sun (male light force), Loughcrew is aligned with sunrise of the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes-that day when lightness and darkness are in perfect harmony (the female light force). The exact religious significance has not been proven, but for centuries it has been believed that Sliabh na Caillighe is devoted to a female, matriarchal form of worship.

Legend states that Garavogue, a magical woman, was told that if she could succeed in dropping an apron full of stones on each of the three Loughcrew peaks, by jumping from one to the next, she would be given the rule of all of Ireland.

She gathered her magic and her stones and succeeded in dropping them on the first two peaks but then missed her landing on the third and fell to her death. To honor her, the giant stone seat,
or altar, on the side of what is now known as “Cairn T”, was constructed for her spirit to come, rest and survey the land that dwelt in her heart. This legend is given as explanation for the impressive group of 5000 year old passage tombs which are spread across the hills.

Jonathon Swift was so enamored of Irish folk tales and legends that he wrote the passage I used at introduction of this post to commemorate Garavogue’s epic actions.

It is thought that Garavogue may be yet another name for, or incarnation of, the Celtic Goddess Bui, the Cow Goddess, who is also associated with fertility and the River Boyne (where Newgrange, Knowth and Howth are located, some 40 miles east of the Sliabh na Caillighe hills).

She is also known as “the supernatural female wilderness Goddess”, or Earth Mother, who watches over the landscape. This provides another explanation for the existence of the Witch’s Seat at the Tomb. This seat, found only at Sliabh na Caillighe, is unique among the neolithic ruins of Ireland. It is 10 feet long, 6 feet high, and is estimated to weigh at least 10 tons. Legend states that a woman who sits in the Witch’s seat with pure intention will be granted one wish.
My wish was not for personal gain. I hope that counts.

It is interesting that the megalithic art found incised throughout the stones, both when entering
and when within the tombs themselves, has been interpreted as referencing more “feminine” objects: celestial stars, moons, Goddess deities, floral and plant shapes, patterns of chevrons, zigzags, and circles. This is in contrast to the art found at Newgrange, Howth and Knowth, which has been described as geometric and mathematical.

Most experts believe that the design elements of all megalithic art most likely comes from hallucinations.
It is well known that magic mushrooms and other hallucinatory plants were used in early religious practices, much as they are still used in authentic Shamanic societies.

It is also believed that the spiral motif, which occurs over and over again in megalithic art across multiple societies, may well represent a sacred vortex which facilitates travel between the different realms, or dimensions, of existence.

Most archaeologists agree that while the cairns of Loughcrew were definitely burial tombs, they also served as ritual, or religious, centers for their communities, for whom celestial motion was sacred.

Cairn T, known as “The Hag’s Cairn” (minimizing our magical woman by giving her one of the negative patriarchal names for a powerful aging woman), is the principal monument in the Loughcrew complex.

It is located at the summit of the Sliabh na Caillaghe hills, which is the highest point in County Meath. Its’ location gives it 360 degree views over 18 of Ireland’s counties, making it a powerful place to look over the lands.

The mound itself is 115 feet in diameter.
The passage from the entrance to the back stone of the inner chamber is almost 30 feet in length. At it’s “hotspot”, there is a cruciform with 10 foot ceilings where the inner chamber and the three side recesses all come together, each with its own corbel roofing.
This is both unique and very impressive. Even more impressive is that at sunrise on each of the equinoxes, the sun rises over the hills and shines directly through the entrance passage, to reflect on the ornately decorated altar/backstone within.

Cairn T was once known as “Carbane”, which means “white cairn”. This is because the cairn, like Newgrange, was once clad with white quartz, which would have caused the site to gleam and sparkle across the land.

The entire necropolis of Sliabh na Caillighe, with its 30 tombs, can be explored on foot over the course of a day or two.
It is thought that there were even more tombs in this location but that erosion, looting, and thoughtless development of the land accounts for the destruction of countless others.

There are ruins of six satellite chambered tombs on the main hill which I visited on the eve of Lughnasadh. None of these has been excavated or opened, making this hill a truly “thin” place for those willing to make the effort to visit it.