Summit cairn on Slievenamon.
In many cultures the high places (mountain tops) were venerated places. In some they were regarded with awe as locations where the gods resided. It may have been felt that such sites were closer to God and were used as places of initiation, burial or ceremonial locations. In Tibet ancient cultures worshipped the mountains as manifestations of warrior gods - Shivling. There are sacred mountains in Africa - the Mountain of God (Ol Doinyo Lengai) in Tanzania, sacred to the Maasai people. In North America the Devil's Tower of Wyoming has been sacred to the native peoples since Neolithic times. In Greek mythology the foremost deities of the Greek pantheon were believed to have lived on the summit of Mount Olympus.
In prehistoric Ireland, whatever the beliefs about the mountain summits, they were certainly held in some esteem by the people. There is hardly a significant hill summit that does not have a rock cairn, many of which have been shown to be ancient burial sites. They were also places of pilgrimage where some form of ritual was carried out. The prime example is Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo. This was a place of pilgrimage well before the Christian era and it's thought that the modern track to the summit is an archaeological artifact itself. Three summit mounds are recognised as being of ancient pre-Christian origin.
No one can tell what rituals took place there but one possibility is that they were 'Sun' related. There are numerous locations where topographical features align with sunrise or sunset on particularly significant times of the year. The most renowned might be Newgrange in Co Meath but there are numbers of others, some being on mountain summits.
Solstice sunrise from 'Ritual Site' near summit of Brandon Hill in Co Kilkenny,
looking towards Mt Leinster.
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