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| Myth and Magic in Ireland's ancient heartland |
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Cruachan Aí Heritage Centre In the heartland of Connacht, Ireland a forgotten landscape is being brought to light in the award-winning Cruachan Aí Heritage Centre. Cruachan is one of the most important and best preserved Celtic Royal Sites in Europe, and the medieval village of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon is the setting for the new centre. An amazing array of archaeological remains are located within a four mile radius of the centre, dating from the Stone Age to the historic period, and these are interpreted in our bright, modern exhibition rooms. The central focus is Rathcroghan Mound, now established as a ceremonial mound associated with pre-Christian ritual. Most of the important sites date from the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, a period of great activity and progress in Ireland 's past.  The legendary Cruachan was a Royal Palace, home of Medb (or Meave) "the drunken one ", Warrior Queen and Earth Goddess. Fierce and proud, she was responsible for launching the famed cattle raid of Cooley, as recounted in one of the greatest works of early Irish literature, the Táin Bó Cuailnge. Cruachan was also the inauguration site and burial place of the Kings of Connacht, and the location of one of the three famous feiseanna of Ireland. Modern Science is shedding new light on the significance of this ancient landscape and the meaning of the 60 National Monuments to be found here. The results of a recent Archaeogeophysical Survey carried out by experts >from National University of Ireland, Galway, are incorporated into the exhibition. The survey has discovered significant and previously unknown features. |
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| Cruachan Aí Heritage Centre, Tulsk, Co. Roscommon. Tel. +353 (0)71 9639268 |