Insights

The carved tree of life is one of the most recognisable motifs appearing on modern Irish gravestones. Its trunk rises from a carefully shaped base, branches…

Across the Atlantic edge of County Mayo, roads often preserve memories that are older than their names. A narrow track across open ground, a gap in a stone…

Rathcroghan, or Ráth Cruachan, is one of Ireland’s most evocative archaeological landscapes. Set in County Roscommon, the complex is associated with the…

Portarlington in County Laois is closely associated with French Protestant refugees who settled in Ireland after the Williamite wars. Among them were skilled…

In the medieval landscape of Cashel, stone monuments often preserve only part of the story they once told. A damaged figure, tucked into the fabric of a church…

On a low rise in County Sligo, the stones of Creevykeel preserve one of Ireland’s finest Neolithic monuments. Its weathered slabs mark a communal burial place…

Across Irish cemeteries, a small carved leaf can carry a remarkably rich message. Ivy appears on headstones, crosses, wall plaques, mausoleums and memorial…

Within the walls of Dublin's most famous burial ground, the grave of Michael Collins draws visitors who travel not just from across Ireland but from places as…

Old cemeteries in Kilkenny contain more than names, dates and carved epitaphs. Look closely at a worn headstone, chest tomb or churchyard wall and small marks…

Across the fertile plains of County Kildare, where the Curragh opens into broad pasture and the limestone country drifts south toward the Wicklow foothills,…