This barrow at Knockaun townland, Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo is one of two later prehistoric burial sites that demonstrate that the prominent headland was the focus of ritual and ceremony before it became associated with the life of St. Patrick in the Christian era.
These monuments form part of a broader pattern of prehistoric settlement in this region of north Mayo that is being studied as part of the Belderrig Excavations, Climate Change and the Adoption of Agriculture in Ireland and Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscapes of North Mayo projects. The research examines the relationships between climate/environmental change and key changes in patterns of human activity over time and includes final publication of survey and excavation at Ceide Fields and related sites.
This research provides long-term comparative data against which to map patterns of climate change today and their effects on our environment, economy and society.
Dr Graeme Warren, UCD School of Archaeology
