Cruachu

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Cruachu

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2 Duns

Dun of * Mebh Cormac

The Winter Palace

Dun of * Bridgette Cormac

Pig Pen of Ailell and Maeve

2 Brughs

Brugh of * Mogh Roith Baoisgne

Brú na Draoi Allta

Brugh of * Conall MacRoth

Saobhaidh

9 Bothans

Bothan of * Holly MacRoth

Uaimh na Crúachu

Bothan of * Alti Cormac

Vacant Property

Bothan of * Mebh Cormac

A Yew Tree in the Kirkyard

Bothan of * Mairead Cormac

Slainte is tainte

Bothan of * Tuan Cormac

HALL OF RECORDS

Bothan of * Una MacRoth

Ceol agus Craic

Bothan of * Siofra MacRoth

Cruachu Kitchen

Bothan of * Lasair Cormac

The White Bull Pub

Bothan of * Condros Brigantes

Ros Condros

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Connacht's District of

Cruachu

Ceann mor:

* Holly MacRoth

Cruachu - The Royal Seat of Connacht Province. Queen Medb and King Ailill were some of the first residents. Cruachu sits on a rise of high ground in the north of County Roscommon. On a clear day, you could see from the wall of the Dun to the River Shannon.

Cruachu, the royal seat of Connacht Province, the home of Medb and Ailill, was in use for several thousand years, but rose to prominence around 350 BC. It is a combination of ritual center, burial grounds and fortress, covering nearly 300 acres in the north of present-day County Roscommon. The place fell into disuse in the sixth century, and has seen little but farming since that time.

The main portion of the site is near the town of Elphin, and consists of two large mounds, numerous smaller burial mounds and standing stones. The southern mound is over 60 meters in diameter and about 4 meters high. The northern mound is slightly smaller - about 45 meters by 3 meters high. A seven-foot standing stone is located some 200 meters northeast of the southern mound, and is said to mark the grave of King Dathi. There are also traces of several ancient roads converging on the area of the mounds.

To the north of the mounds is a small lake and a natural cave with a man-modified entrance. The cave was believed to be a portal to the Otherworld, a place where the Druid priests could commune with the ancestral spirits. An Ogham inscription on a lintel-stone at the cave's entrance has been translated as "Fraech (son) of Medb". This name may be familiar to some from the old tales; "The Cattle Raid of Fraech", "The Wooing of Treblann", and "The Cattle Raid of Cooley", where he met his end at the hands of the hero, Cuchullain.

Another of the old tales tells of The Magic Pigs of Crúachu…

Out of the magic cave of Crúachu came these pigs. And everywhere they went, neither grain nor grass would grow for a span of seven years. They were wily pigs and did not wish to be counted. If any herdsman came to count them, they would go into another part of the land. Also, they could not be killed, for if they were shot at with and arrow or spear, they would simply disappear and be in another place. One day, Medb and Ailill went to count them, and the warriors gathered the pigs in a circle. They were counting when one pig jumped over the chariot. "That pig is one too many!" said Ailill. "Not so!" said Medb. She seized the pig by the hind leg, so that its hide split on the forehead and it left its hide in her hand with its own leg. Of a sudden, all of the pigs were gone, and it is not known where they went. After that, the place was called Magh Mucraimhe… The Plain of Pig-Counting.