Ireland Guide
Galway and Mayo
Céide Fields
Isolated on Mayo's dramatic, cliff-girt north coast, the prehistoric site of Céide (pronounced "cage-a") Fields is difficult to get to, but repays the effort. Here, archeologists have discovered a unique, 5000-year-old agricultural landscape, miraculously preserved under a thick layer of peat and undisturbed by later farming. A highly organized system of dry-stone field walls, dotted with individual houses and gardens in what were apparently peaceful times, covers an area of thirteen square kilometres, the largest Stone Age monument in the world. What's remarkable about the site is its very ordinariness, its similarity to much of the Irish countryside today, as Seamus Heaney noted in Belderg:
A landscape fossilized, Its stone wall patternings
Repeated before our eyes In the stone walls of Mayo.
Rough contemporaries of the tomb-builders of Newgrange, these farmers cleared the area's forest to make fields for their cattle, sheep, wheat and barley, and built wooden houses, of which trenches and postholes are now the only traces. However, after only five hundred years, the climate deteriorated, causing the bog to gradually rise up over their farms.
The site is commemorated by an impressive, well-designed visitor centre (late Feb to mid-Oct daily 10am–6pm; €3.70; Heritage Card; 
www.heritageireland.ie ), which features exhibitions and audiovisuals on the history and geology of the area and the formation of the bog, as well as a viewing platform and a fine café. Regular forty-minute guided tours (last tour 5pm) take visitors outside to see excavated walls, animal and house enclosures and to learn about the ecology of the bog that swallowed them up. From the adjacent cliff-top viewpoint, you can see Donegal's Slieve League on a clear day, and in the near distance the sea stack of Downpatrick Head, neatly layered and tufted with grass: according to legend, this is the severed head of the last snake that St Patrick chased from Ireland.
Practicalities
The nearest town to Céide Fields is Ballycastle ( www.ballycastle.ie ), 8km to the east, which comes as a pleasant surprise among the barren, grossly proportioned mountains of North Mayo: set in the broad Ballinglen valley, it's surrounded by green fields, trees and cattle, with a fine sandy beach at the river mouth. Tourist information is available at the Ballycastle Resource Centre (Mon– Fri 10am–5/6pm, closing for lunch; 
096/43407). Changing exhibitions of works by internationally known artists attached to the local Ballinglen Arts Foundation are held at the gallery opposite Polke'spub. A traditional, welcoming grocery-bar, Polke's itself is hung with paintings by Ballinglen artists who have searched for the muse there. For accommodation, head for the welcoming KeadyvilleB&B ( 096/43288 or 086 088 9010; Price: Under €60), where there are great breakfasts and sea views, or the elegantly refurbished former coastguard station and convent, the Stella Marishotel, which offers beautiful views of the bay, meticulous luxury and an excellent, creative restaurant ( 096/43322, www.stellamarisireland.com ; April– Sept; Price: €200-250). You can also eat very well at Mary's homely café and bakery on the main street (closed Sun in winter; 096/43361).
There's no public transport to Céide Fields but Ballycastle is linked by bus to Ballina, 28km to the southeast, which in turn has regular services to and from Westport and Castlebar. Further exploration of the coast could be based on the North Mayo Sculpture Trail, marked by brown Tír Sáile (Land of the Salty Wind) signposts, a striking and ever-growing series of modern outdoor sculptures, celebrating the wild beauty and cultural heritage of the area; for further information, phone 098/45107 or go to www.mayoireland.ie/tirsaile.htm .