Ireland’s earliest art

Unravelling the sequence of carving on the stones has been challenging but has been helped by the fact that there are so many examples to study, writes Elizabeth Shee Twohig


Ireland’s earliest art
Writer

Back to this Issue

Category
Heritage
Tags
Knowth

Share

The passage-tomb complex at Knowth, Co Meath is part of a group of megalithic (large stone) monuments built close together in an area known as Brú na Bóinne around five thousand years ago. They lie some 18 km inland from where the River Boyne enters the Irish Sea, just beyond the modern town of Drogheda, and are enclosed within a bend of the same river. These tombs were built with a passage leading into a chamber (and are thus called passage tombs) and covered by a mound or a cairn of small stones, which was held in place by an enclosing ring of horizontal kerbstones and/or drystone walling, sometimes built of shining white quartz. One of the most distinctive features of passage tombs is that they are embellished with a range of carved symbols or motifs that archaeologists call ‘megalithic art’. Passage tombs are known elsewhere in Ireland and Britain, and earlier ones are known in Iberia and western France.

More from the Summer 2022 edition

The Reading Figure In Irish Art In The Long Nineteenth Century

The Reading Figure In Irish Art In The Long Nineteenth Century


Preview Article
100 Women of Limerick

100 Women of Limerick


Preview Article
Ireland’s earliest art

Ireland’s earliest art

Unravelling the sequence of carving on the stones has been challenging but has been helped by the fact that there are so many examples to study, writes Elizabeth Shee Twohig


Preview Article
Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0