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heritage · Saturday 22 August 2026 · 11:00am 
Amhráin agus scéalta in Carrowkeel - Immersive Musical Walk
At Carrowkeel Cairns Passage Tombs · Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo
At Carrowkeel Cairns Passage Tombs · Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo
On a ridge in the Bricklieve Mountains above Lough Arrow, 5,500-year-old passage tombs look out over south County Sligo. This free heritage walk puts traditional Irish songs and stories inside that landscape - performed live among the cairns rather than in a hall or a museum. It is organised by Queer Shed Sligo, a community skills and connection initiative in the tradition of the Men’s and Women’s Sheds movements, and it runs as part of National Heritage Week 2026. The combination of site and format is unusual: slow, outdoor, Irish-language song woven into a walk through one of Ireland’s great prehistoric cemeteries. It suits curious adults, anyone with an interest in archaeology or sean-nós tradition, and people who want to spend a morning somewhere genuinely ancient.
Carrowkeel is one of Ireland’s four great passage tomb cemeteries, alongside Brú na Bóinne, Carrowmore, and Loughcrew. Fourteen cairns sit along the ridge, most of them round and built from limestone slabs. Cairn G has a roofbox similar to Newgrange - on the summer solstice, light enters the chamber at sunrise. The site is unenclosed and largely unfenced, so the walk moves through heather and rough ground between the tombs themselves.
Over the three-and-a-half hours, traditional songs (amhráin) and storytelling (scéalta) are performed on-site, linking the place to the living oral tradition that has carried Irish culture for centuries. This is not a lecture or a guided tour in the usual sense - it is an immersive experience, with the landscape as the backdrop. Wear sturdy footwear; the terrain is uneven and the mountain weather can change. Layers are sensible even in August.
Carrowkeel is in south County Sligo, near Castlebaldwin, roughly 35km south of Sligo town. From Sligo, take the N4 south towards Boyle and follow signs for Carrowkeel and the Bricklieve Mountains. The final stretch of road is narrow and winds up the hillside - allow time. Parking is available at the foot of the site. There is no regular bus service to Carrowkeel, so a car is effectively required. If you are travelling from further afield, Sligo town has coach connections from Dublin and Galway, and car hire is available at the station.
The region has an extraordinary concentration of prehistoric sites - Carrowmore megalithic cemetery is just outside Sligo town, and Queen Medb’s cairn crowns the summit of Knocknarea to the west. Sligo town itself is compact and walkable, with good cafés and the county museum a short stop. There is more to see in Sligo and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Carrowkeel Cairns Passage Tombs in Sligo? Sligo has plenty more to see. Read the Sligo area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.