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THE NAUL

CO. DUBLIN · IE

The Naul
An Aill, Co. Dublin

The Fingal
STOP 04 / 08

An Aill · Co. Dublin

At the northern edge of Dublin, where the River Delvin cuts a cliff, there is a village with one pub, a Neolithic ridge, and very few tourists.

The Naul sits at the very top of County Dublin, a few kilometres from the Meath border, on a ridge above the River Delvin. The name means 'The Cliff'. It's a village of about 600 people, one pub, a GAA club, and a surrounding prehistoric landscape that most visitors to Dublin never hear about.

The reason to come is Fourknocks - a Neolithic passage tomb 1.5 km from the village, dated to between 3000 and 2500 BC. It sat unrecognised until 1949, when a local connection to Newgrange led archaeologists to investigate. The site holds a wide central chamber with three offset cells, decorated stonework, and the quiet that comes with standing somewhere 5,000 years old. On a clear day the Dublin Mountains are visible to the south. It's not Newgrange, and it doesn't pretend to be.

Population

~600

Pubs

1and counting

Walk score

Village to passage tomb - 1.5 km

Founded

Name from An Aill - "The Cliff"

Coords

53.5736° N, 6.2792° W

01 / 06

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 Fourknocks

Passage tomb, 3000-2500 BC. Found in 1949.

Fourknocks passage tomb is 1.5 km northwest of the village on a hill above the Delvin River. A short passage leads into a wide round chamber with three offset side chambers - discovered when a woman visiting Newgrange mentioned mounds like it on her uncle's farm. First excavated 1950-52. The site pre-dates the Egyptian pyramids.

Stories & lore → 02 The cliff

An Aill. The name is the place.

The Naul takes its name from the Irish An Aill - 'The Cliff' - which describes the limestone escarpment the River Delvin cuts through at this point. Not a dramatic cliff by Moher standards, but distinctive enough to name a village after.

Stories & lore →

02 / 06

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Killian's Bar

Local, quiet

Village pub

The only pub in The Naul. A proper local - the kind that has been at the heart of the village for generations and isn't trying to be anything else.

03 / 06

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

How a passage tomb hid for four millennia

Fourknocks

Fourknocks Passage Tomb dates to between 3000 and 2500 BC, making it Neolithic - predating Stonehenge, predating the pyramids. For most of recorded history it was just mounds on a hilltop farm. In 1949, a woman visiting Newgrange mentioned to archaeologists that similar mounds existed on her uncle's farm near Naul. PJ Hartnett excavated the site from 1950 to 1952 and found a short passage leading into a wide circular chamber 6 metres across - unusual proportions, wider than most passage tombs - with three side chambers, cremated remains, and decorated stonework. It is technically in Co. Meath by modern boundaries, 1.5 km from the village, but the Naul is the nearest settlement and the natural approach.

The GAA club, started 1957

Clann Mhuíre

Clann Mhuíre CLG - the GAA club covering The Naul and surrounding parishes - was established in 1957. GAA football is the gravitational centre of social life in north Fingal villages like this. On match days Killian's Bar makes its case for the title of unofficial county board annexe.

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The lanes around Naul are at their best in spring - hawthorn hedges, light on the Delvin, and Fourknocks almost entirely to yourself.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Warm and easy. Fourknocks gets a few more visitors in July and August but never busy. Dublin's neolithic sites are still well under the radar.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Good walking season. The ridge above the Delvin has long views south to the mountains on clear October mornings.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Fourknocks is exposed on its hilltop in a north-west wind. Worthwhile if you're properly dressed for it. Otherwise, spring is better.

◐ Mind yourself

05 / 06

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting anything beyond the pub and the tombs

The Naul is a rural village at the Dublin boundary. What it has - a genuinely significant Neolithic site and an unchanged local - is exactly what it says on the sign. Don't come looking for restaurants.

Conflating Fourknocks with Newgrange

Fourknocks is smaller, quieter, less famous, and easier to visit without booking. That's its advantage, not its apology.

Getting there.

By car

From Swords, take the R108 north through Lusk and follow signs for Naul - about 20 km, 25 minutes. From Dublin city, allow 45 minutes via the M1 and R108. The road to Fourknocks is signposted from the village.

By bus

Sparse rural bus connections - Dublin Bus 33 gets to Lusk, then it's a taxi or long walk. A car is effectively required.