Castlebaldwin
Béal Átha na gCarraigíní

A petrol pump on the N4 with the Bricklieve Mountains rising behind.

Castlebaldwin is a small village on the N4, almost exactly halfway between Boyle and Sligo town. The Irish name — Béal Átha na gCarraigíní, the mouth of the ford of the small rocks — describes the place on the ground. There is not a great deal in the village core: a petrol station, a few houses, a pub, a few outlying farms. The reason it matters is what it gives access to.

Up to the west the Bricklieve Mountains rise out of the road in a single steep limestone shelf, and on top of that shelf sit the fourteen Neolithic passage tombs of Carrowkeel — built between roughly 3,500 and 2,500 BC, contemporary with Newgrange. The signposted turn-off from the N4 at Castlebaldwin leads up a narrow back road to the parking area at the foot of the mountain. From there you walk. There is no visitor centre, no admission, no shop. Cairn G aligns with the midsummer sunset, the way Newgrange aligns with the midwinter sunrise. You can crawl in. Bring a torch.

East of the road is Lough Arrow — a clear limestone lake with a serious mayfly hatch in May and a long fishing tradition. The lakeshore caravan park sits at Castlebaldwin. Beyond the lake the land rises into the Curlew Mountains and the Roscommon border. Treat Castlebaldwin as a turn-off rather than a stay. A coffee, a walk up to Carrowkeel, an hour on the lake — and on south to Boyle or north back to Sligo.