Title: The Hill of the Moon and the Speckled Mountain
Our March 1st speaker is Martin Byrne,
www.carrowkeel.com
www.carrowmore.com
He is an artist, researcher and Bord Fáilte qualified tour guide currently living in Cliffoney, beside the ancient site of Creeveykeel in north Co. Sligo. He has an intimate knowledge of ancient Irish sites, their mythology, archaeology and astronomical alignments. For the past number of years he has been investigating megalithic monuments, specifically Chambered Cairns or passage graves which have Solar and Lunar alignments that illuminate their internal chambers and are found on mountain tops and hills all across Ireland.
Ireland has some of the oldest and best preserved megalithic monuments in Western Europe. The country is covered with the remains of an ancient civilisation, buildings which were erected at the end of the last Ice age in the early neolithic age, nearly 8000 years ago. The oldest Irish sites - indeed some of the oldest buildings in the world - are found along the Atlantic seaboard - in the Burren of Co Clare, at Cong and Knockma in Mayo and Galway, and the great sites of Carrowmore and Carrowkeel in County Sligo.
His talk a will cover a series of images of Sun rises and sets at Irish chambered cairns, largely focusing on sites in Counties Sligo and Meath. There will be a discussion of possible lunar alignments at these sites, and a look at the art and mythology.
--
Best wishes
Ronan Newman
Secretary
galwayastronomyclub.com
