Ireland Atlantic Coast

Just behind Keel Beach is the small deserted village of Slievemore at the foot of Slievemore Mountain. The rich clay soils and abundent water supply were probably attractive to the settlers from the Neolithic Period onwards. You can see megalithic tombs, ancient field walls, remnants of stone forts, standing stones and the remains of round houses from the Bronze age. It is not known why these were all abandoned. The Bruce invasion of Ireland, the famine of the 1300s and the Black Death are given as possible reasons why.