Guide to Waterford Monuments

Cairns

The Waterford Archaeological Inventory of 1999 lists over 50 Cairns in county Waterford.

The vast majority of these are spectacularly located at high altitude in the Comeragh mountains, most of them only seen by hillwalkers who traverse these lonely high mountainous regions, although some can also to be found in the lower foothills.

Composed wholly of stone with sometimes a covering of humus or heather growth, they are thought to date to the Bronze or Iron Age.

It is believed that these masses of stone were erected to cover prehistoric burials with some showing obvious signs of internment such as the visible Cist at the Glenafallia cairn in the Knockmealdown mountains. However,others may have had purely a symbolic function.

Some are found with hollowed out centres and also modern wind breaks constructed into them with others showing kerb stones and even supplementary  pyramid cairns which makes them even more visible from the lower plains below. These mystical and mysterious landmarks, which were certainly sited close to the Gods, can range from quite a modest size up to 30 metres in diameter.

One well known Waterford cairn is Crohaun near Lemybrien which now has a large Christian cross erected on top of it. The sacredness of this site continues today into the 21^st century, with each summer people ascending the mountain slope for an annual mass which is held every July.