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Slieve Donard at 850 metres (2,790 feet) is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. It is on the northern edge of Mourne Mountain range in County Down overlooking the town of Newcastle and Dundrum Bay.
At the summits of the mountain are the remains of two prehistoric burial cairns. The one on the summit is the ‘Great Cairn’ which would originally have been c.40 metres in diameter. Today much of the covering cairn has been removed and the chamber has collapsed. It is believed the ‘Great Carin’ was a Neolithic Passage Grave or Tomb from 3300-3000 BC.
The second cairn c.200 metres northeast from the summit is the ‘Lesser Carin’ and is thought to be an early Bronze Age multiple cist cairn from2300-1950 BC. Like the ‘Great Cairn’ the stones have been remove and the internal chambers have collapsed.
From the summit there are magnificent views of the County Down Coastline and on a clear day it is possible to see Belfast Lough, the Isle of Man and Dublin Bay.
