Caves of Keash, Keshcorran, Sligo

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Last Sunday I visited a site I had long wanted to see – The Caves of Keash in County Sligo. These are some of Ireland’s most visually striking caves, appearing as black mouths set in the white limestone rock face high on the western shoulder of Keshcorran Mountain. There are sixteen caves and you can enter the majority to enjoy a really incredible evocative experience. 

Archaeological investigations in the early 20th century, discovered bones from animals that stalked Ireland towards the end of the Ice Age – with evidence of hares, brown bear, red deer, Arctic lemming and wolves all dating to more than c.12,000 years ago. 

Tantalising evidence of human activity was also discovered during the investigations, with artefacts and human remains discovered from a number of periods throughout Irish history. Perhaps most curiously a number of human teeth were recovered. They were found to date from different periods ranging from the Early Iron Age, to the Early Medieval period. These were the teeth of human adults, and due to the number of examples and nature of their deposition they are unlikely to be accidental losses. As there was no accompanying skeletal remains it is quite possible that they represent some kind of votive ritual tradition or religious practice. Animal teeth (particularly dog and horse) were also discovered in similar deposits. Both dogs and horses were highly prized and almost revered in Iron Age Ireland so they may also represent ritual activity. It is possible that the teeth formed part of a ritual celebrating Lughnasa, as the Keash Caves are particularly associated with the Iron Age god Lugh. 

Another discovery has more sinister possibilities. Part of a leg bone of an adult male was discovered within one of the caves, nearby to an iron crossbow bolt. This could represent the grisly end for someone who was hiding in the caves before they were hunted down. An entry in the Annals of the Four Masters from 1007 AD states: ‘…Muireadhach, a distinguished bishop…was suffocated in a cave, in Gaileanga of Corann’. 

Being so highly visible and unusual in the landscape, the Caves of Keash and the mountain are imbued with myth, legend and folklore. The legendary High King of Ireland, Cormac Mac Airt was said to have been born by a well at the foot of Keshcorran, and was raised by a she-wolf in one of the caves, perhaps echoing the story of Romulus and Remus who were also raised by a wolf in a cave. The caves also feature in stories of Fionn MacCumhaill, who had to enter the caves to seek out the otherworld smithy of Lon MacLíomhtha. Another story featuring the caves tells how Fionn and his Fianna were captured and bound in the caves by three hideous hags. If you'd like more information about the history, archaeology and folklore of Keshcorran please see this superb article. Dr Marion Dowd of Sligo IT is Ireland’s foremost expert in the archaeology of caves, and she has a great Facebook page that highlights the story of these fascinating places www.facebook.com/archaeologycavesireland. 

As well as the caves, the mountain of Keshcorran was an important place in ancient Ireland. A prehistoric cairn, likely to be a large Neolithic passage tomb, crowns the summit of the mountain. The cairn is part of an extended upland megalithic cemetery that includes the tombs on Carrowkeel. These tombs are clearly visible in the landscape from the summit of Keshcorran. Indeed from the summit you are treated to absolutely breathtaking views, on a clear day you can spend a while just gazing at the beautiful landscape at places like Nephin in Mayo and the mountains of Donegal.

We followed this stone wall across the summit towards the cairn

The large stone cairn on the summit of Keshcorran

If you look carefully you can see the tombs on Carrowkeel

You can find the Caves of Keshcorran signposted off the R295 between Ballymote and Boyle (around 30km from Sligo at co-ordinates 54º03.541, -008º27.146). There is a small carpark and a steep path up to the caves but I highly recommend good walking boots as it can be very slippy underfoot. We couldn’t find any obvious path up to the cairn, it was a very tough and occasionally nervy, climb up. As it hasn’t been excavated the cairn has no distinguishing features so unless you are particularly interested in upland megalithic tombs I would advise perhaps skipping the arduous climb up to this one and instead perhaps taking a trip to Carrowkeel after your visit to the caves instead.

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