5 Monuments to Explore in Connacht

Athenry Heritage Centre is the ideal starting point to discover the best preserved medieval town in Ireland. Its exhibits include the torture dungeon, models of the medieval town, storyboards and a replica street of medieval crafts. You can experience this history with interactive exhibits of weaponry, armour, dressing up in medieval costume and Have-A-Go Archery.

Dún Conor is a stone ringfort and National Monument located on Inishmaan, Ireland, measuring about 69 m N-S and 35 m E-W; although smaller than Dún Aengus, it has thicker walls, up to 6 m in places. The fort is believed to date back to the first or second millennium BC.

Drumanone is a large dolmen with 6-1/2 foot portal stones and a 6-1/2 foot doorstone. The capstone, which has slipped to cover the chamber, is almost 15 feet long and almost 10 feet wide. The sides of the chamber are each composed of a single stone. It has been estimated that the tomb was built prior to 2000 B.C.

The Famine Monument, which is located opposite The Harp Tavern in Quay Street, and was erected here in July 1997 in memory of all those who died and suffered during the famine. The monument depicts a family in the depths of despair, starving and with no hope for the future, yet the child, a young girl can be seen pointing towards the ships, one of which would carry them to a new life in America or Canada.

This is the largest and most visible neolithic monument in the west of Ireland. The huge monument, which was probably built between 3,500 and 3,200 BC, is part of the Irish passage-grave culture. The oldest dated monument in Sligo is the very early causewayed enclosure at Magheraboy, between Carns Hill and the Carrowmore megalithic complex.