Corleck Hill

Corleck Hill is a small elongated promontory in the townland of Drumeague, County Cavan, Ireland.
A nearby 3rd century BC passage grave was dismantled in the mid-19th century, and the hill it is once thought to have contained an ancient sacred well. The 1st century AD Celtic stone idols, the Corleck Head and Corraghy Heads, are thought to have been uncovered during this excavation. Corleck later became a major site for the Lughnasadh, a pre-Christian Gaelic harvest festival which continued to be celebrated there until the early modern period.
The site once held an Early Medieval stone head representing St. Brigid, but this is now lost.

Etymology

Corleck Hill's Irish names include Sliabh na Trí nDée and Sliabh na nDée Dána. The three Irish mythological gods referenced in the Irish name are today thought to be Conn, the Dagda and Ogma, but were earlier believed to be in reference to the three Sons of Tuireann: Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba.

Ancient site

Human activity on Corleck Hill dates to the Neolithic period, as evidenced by a c. 2500 BC passage grave that was dismantled in the 19th century to make way for farming land. The hill became a significant druidic site of worship during the Iron Age, and has been described as once being "the pulse of Ireland". It is one of six regions in Ulster where clusters of seemingly related Iron Age Celtic stone idols have been found. Other ancient objects from the broader area include the 1st century BC wooden Ralaghan Idol, a small contemporary spherical stone head from the nearby townlands of Corravilla, and the Corraghy Heads.
From the early Christian period, it became a major site for the Lughnasadh, an ancient harvest festival celebrating the Celtic god Lugh, a warrior king and master craftsman of the Tuatha Dé Danann—one of the foundational Irish tribes in Irish mythology.