The Burren has been aptly described as one 'vast memorial to bygone cultures'. For instance, some 80 wedge tombs of Neolithic origin have been found in the region, from an estimated national total of just over 500. Hundreds of ancient cooking sites or fulachta fiadh and ancient cist graves are found throughout the hills.
Some 500 ring forts are found in the Burren, including the magnificent triumvallate (three walled) Cahercummaun and the chevaux-de-frise (an ancient defensive structure composed of upright stones) ringed Ballykingvarga. Tower houses and Early Christian church sites are also very common, many in an excellent state of preservation.
The magnificent portal tomb at Poulnabrone in the rocky heart of the Burren is one of the most easily recognised monuments in Ireland, but is only one very small piece of an extradorinary wealth of heritage to be found in the Burren.
Here you will find a listing of the main sites of archaeological and historical significance of the Burren.
For general archaeological information try the following links:
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