Loughcrew Cairns are the reason Oldcastle belongs in a travel guide. The tombs date from about 3300 BC and are spread across several small hills, with Carnbane East the usual visitor focus. The largest tomb, Cairn T, is famous for Neolithic carvings and for the way sunrise reaches into the chamber around the spring and autumn equinoxes.
The setting is as memorable as the stones. Paths are steep, exposed, and rocky, but the reward is a sweep of open country and a much quieter encounter with Ireland's prehistoric past than at the better-known Boyne Valley sites.