Monuments

With a history dating back thousands of years, Visit Mourne’s mountains and valleys are dotted with countless monuments, marking sites of importance throughout the centuries. 

Druidic Rituals 

Discover the secrets of the druids at Kilnasaggart Inscribed Stone. The stone pillar is intricately decorated with geometric shapes. One of the oldest monuments in Ireland, it is thought to have been built by druids as a sacrificial site, in commemoration of an ancient warrior.  

Standing on the ancient road from Tara to the North Coast, also known as the Gap of the North, the pillar is surrounded by smaller stones, each inscribed with a cross. 

Neolithic Funeral Sites 

Journey back over 5,000 years to the Neolithic period, the Legananny Dolmen is one of the oldest known burial sites in Ireland. These ancient man-made structures often draw comparisons to England’s Stonehenge. 

This portal tomb, near Castlewellan is one of the most photographed sites in Ireland. The difficulties of constructing such a structure with nothing but rudimentary hand tools indicates that Legananny is the final resting place of an important figure or family. 

Bronze Age Marvels 

Ballynoe Stone circle is one of Visit Mourne’s most mysterious bronze age monuments. The complex site comprises over fifty tightly spaced stones, some of which are as high as six feet tall. 

It is thought that Ballynoe was a funerary or ritual site, with large pits filled with cremated bones being discovered in and around the stone circle itself. 

12th Century Church Ruins 

Built in the early 1200s, the ruined Inch Abbey is one of the oldest surviving churches in County Down. Originally built on an island in the Quoile marshes, today the site stands on rolling hills outside Downpatrick. 

Outlying buildings remain nearby, including a bakery and infirmary, indicating a large community which lived in the vicinity of the abbey. 

Healing Waters at Struell 

For over 1500 years, people have flocked to Struell to bathe in its healing waters. With four wells and a dedicated bathing house, Struell’s healing waters have been in use by locals since before the time of St. Patrick. 

Patrick himself is said to have bathed in the waters and blessed Struell’s wells on a visit to Saul.  

Natural Wonders from the Ice Age 

Overlooking the sea at Rostrevor, the Cloughmore Stone is the perfect example of nature’s power over the local landscape. Weighing in at over fifty tonnes, the exact story of how this vast monolith came to be on top of a mountain stumped locals for years.  

Known locally as the Big Stone, legend has it that it was thrown here by the Irish giant, Finn MacCool, during a battle with a Scottish rival. 

In truth, the Cloughmore Stone was deposited in its current location over 10,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Retreating ice sheets moved the stone all the way from Scotland, placing it in its current location, where it has stood ever since. 

Megalithic Fort at Drumena 

Built in the early Christian period, Drumena Cashel was once the site of a small agricultural community. Today, most of what remains is its stone perimeter wall. Set in the rolling hills just south of Castlewellan, Drumena’s walls are 10 feet thick, spanning 130 feet in diameter. 

Neolithic Dolmen at Wateresk 

Just north of Newcastle, you’ll find one of Visit Mourne’s most beautiful and intricate portal tombs. Slidderyford Dolmen stands in an open field, against the backdrop of the Mourne Mountains. 

The dolmen’s largest support stone is carved into the shape of a hand, holding up the large cap stone. Carved from local granite, the tomb marks the gravesite of an important prehistoric resident of the area.