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CLIFFONY

CO. SLIGO · IE

Cliffony
Cliafuine

The Wild Atlantic Way
STOP 02 / 12

Cliafuine · Co. Sligo

A small village on the N15 with one of the great Neolithic tombs at the crossroads.

Cliffony is a small north Sligo village on the N15, two kilometres south of the Leitrim border and a few hundred metres east of the road that leads down to Mullaghmore. Most people drive through it in under a minute. The reason to stop is a Neolithic court tomb at the crossroads, fifty metres off the main road, four thousand years old and unfenced — you can walk into the open court at any hour of the day. Creevykeel is one of the best-preserved court tombs in Ireland. Harvard came in 1935 to dig it.

The other story is offshore. Inishmurray, the small island visible from the headlands above Cliffony on a clear day, was a working community for more than a thousand years and one of the most intact monastic sites in Western Europe. St Molaise founded a monastery there in the 6th century, the Vikings raided it in 795 and again in 807, and farming families held on until 1948 — the last 46 islanders were evacuated to the Sligo mainland on the 12th of November of that year. The cashel wall, the beehive cells, the cursing stones and the holy wells are still there, intact and unguarded. Day-trip charters run in summer from Mullaghmore harbour, weather depending. Most days, the weather does not permit.

The village itself is small. There is a pub, a shop, a primary school, a GAA pitch. There is no hotel and no restaurant beyond pub food. Use Cliffony as you would use a road sign — a turning point for the tomb, the island, Mullaghmore Head and Streedagh. Two hours is enough. Then move on to where you are sleeping.

Population

~270

Walk score

Village to court tomb in twenty minutes on foot

Coords

54.4500° N, 8.4500° 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 The court tomb

Creevykeel, dug by Harvard in 1935.

Fifty metres north of the village crossroads. One of the best-preserved court tombs in Ireland — 4,000-2,500 BC, open court, two main chambers. Excavated in 1935 by the fourth Harvard Archaeological Mission under O'Neill Hencken. Free, unsupervised, day or night.

Stories & lore → 02 The island

Inishmurray, abandoned in 1948.

St Molaise's island monastery, founded 6th century, raided by Vikings in 795 and 807. The last 46 islanders were evacuated to the mainland on the 12th of November 1948. Visible offshore on a clear day. Boat charters seasonal from Mullaghmore.

Stories & lore → 03 The road

On the N15 between Mullaghmore and Drumcliff.

Cliffony is the village in the middle of north Sligo's tourist arc. Mullaghmore is six minutes north, Grange ten minutes south, Drumcliff fifteen. Use it as a coffee stop. The tomb is the reason to stay an hour.

Next stops →

02 / 06

Stories & lore.

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

Court tomb, c. 4,000–2,500 BC

Creevykeel

The court tomb at Creevykeel sits in a low field by the crossroads on the N15. The monument is a long cairn with an open semicircular court at one end opening into two main burial chambers, with subsidiary chambers behind. It was excavated from the 25th of July to the 4th of September 1935 by H. O'Neill Hencken with the Harvard Archaeological Mission to Ireland — among the first modern, properly recorded archaeological excavations carried out in the Irish Free State. Hencken's team also found evidence of much later, early-Christian-era reuse of the site, including iron smelting. The site is now in State care and freely accessible.

St Molaise, the Vikings, and the last boat in 1948

Inishmurray

Inishmurray is a low, flat island about seven kilometres offshore from Streedagh. Laisrén — Saint Molaise — founded a monastic community there in the 6th century. The Vikings raided in 795 and again in 807; the monks left in time. A secular farming community persisted on the island for centuries. The population was 102 in 1880; by 1948 it had fallen to 46. On the 12th of November 1948 the last six families were evacuated to the mainland by Sligo County Council. The monastery enclosure — a stone cashel, beehive cells, churches, holy wells, the cursing stones — is one of the most complete early-Christian sites in north-western Europe. The Office of Public Works manages access. Boats run seasonally from Mullaghmore.

1932-1936, Hencken at Creevykeel

The Harvard Mission

The Harvard Archaeological Mission to Ireland was a joint project between Harvard University and the Irish Free State Government from 1932 to 1936. It was the first systematic archaeological survey of the country and helped train the first generation of Irish field archaeologists. Hugh O'Neill Hencken led the Creevykeel dig in 1935 — one of the mission's headline excavations. The pottery, flint and bone finds went to the National Museum in Dublin.

And the Mountbatten road

Cliffony Coal Yard

The old Sligo Coal & Salt yard on the Mullaghmore road out of the village was a working depot through most of the 20th century. The road leads to the harbour where the boat charters to Inishmurray leave and where Lord Mountbatten kept his boat Shadow V. The headland the road climbs is the same one the assassins watched from on the morning of the 27th of August 1979.

03 / 06

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Creevykeel Court Tomb Park at the crossroads, walk fifty metres up the path. Open court, two main chambers, smaller chambers behind. Read the OPW board, walk the full long-cairn perimeter, leave the way you came.

0.5 km returndistance

20-30 min on sitetime

Mullaghmore Head loop Drive or cycle the head from Cliffony — out the L3315, around the point past Classiebawn, back to the harbour. The Atlantic from the cliff is the angle the big-wave surfers know.

5 km loop drivedistance

30 min driving / 90 min walkingtime

Inishmurray (boat trip) Seasonal charters from Mullaghmore harbour, weather-dependent. Sea conditions cancel more days than they permit. The monastic enclosure is the reason you go.

Day on the waterdistance

4-5 hourstime

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar–May

Tomb dry and clear. First Inishmurray crossings possible from April if the sea allows. Light early in the morning is the photographer's shift.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun–Aug

Inishmurray crossings most reliable in June and July. Long evenings at Streedagh and Mullaghmore. Book a boat in advance.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep–Oct

The locals' months on the coast. Tomb empty, light at its best, surf rolling in at Mullaghmore. Inishmurray crossings dwindle by mid-September.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov–Feb

No boats. The tomb is still there. The N15 takes the weather full in the face — drive carefully.

◐ 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.

Driving past the tomb

Creevykeel is fifty metres off the N15, free, and one of the better-preserved Neolithic monuments in the country. Twenty minutes is the price. Pay it.

Booking Inishmurray without a backup plan

The sea cancels Inishmurray trips often. Have a plan for the day if the boat doesn't sail — Streedagh, Mullaghmore Head, Lissadell.

Looking for a hotel in Cliffony

There isn't one. Sleep in Mullaghmore at the Pier Head or in Sligo town. Cliffony is a turning, not a base.