LOUGHCREW

'Loughcrew,' (Irish: ''Sliabh na Caillí'', the hag's mountain) is near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland. (Sometimes written ''Lough Crew''). Loughcrew is a site of considerable historical importance in Ireland. It is the site of megalithic burial grounds dating back to approximately 3500 and 3,300BC.
In more recent centuries Loughcrew became the seat of a branch of the Norman-Irish Plunkett family, whose most famous member became the martyred St Oliver Plunkett. With its barren isolated location Sliabh na Caillí became a critical meeting point throughout the Penal Laws for the dispossessed Irish. Even though the woods are now gone an excellent example of a Mass Rock can still be seen on the top of Sliabh na Caillí today. Following the overthrow of the Plunketts by Cromwellian forces the Plunketts were dispossessed and their estate at Loughcrew was given by Sir William Petty to the Naper Family c.1655. The Napers built an extensive estate of some 180,000 acres (730 km²) in north Meath in the subsequent centuries which mirrored that developed by their neighbouring Cromwellians, the Taylors of Headfort. Following a third and devastating fire, in 1964, the three Naper sons went to court and requested that the state allow the family trust to be broken up and the estate divided between the three sons.

Contents

The Loughcrew Cairns

Oliver Plunkett

External links

The Loughcrew Cairns

The Loughcrew cairns are amongst the oldest structures in the world, built approximately 3300 BC as passage tombs. The cairns are built on the highest hills in the region, the "Sliabh na Caillighe". They have been relatively undeveloped (compared to Newgrange), which has left the region unspoilt.

Oliver Plunkett

Loughcrew is the birthplace of St Oliver Plunkett. The family church stands in the grounds of Loughcrew gardens

External links

★ Loughcrew Information and Images

★ Details of how to obtain access to the interior of Cairn T

★ From http://www.mythicalireland.com

★ A Visit to Loughcrew Megalithic Complex

★ Extent of Naper estate