Loughcrew or Lough Crew (Irish: Loch Craobh, meaning 'lake of the tree') is an area of historical importance near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland.
It is home to a group of ancient tombs from the 4th millennium BC, some decorated with rare megalithic art, which sit on top of a range of hills.
Legend has it that the monuments were created when a giant hag, striding across the land, dropped her cargo of large stones from her apron.
In 1980 Irish-American researcher Martin Brennan discovered that Cairn T in Carnbane East is directed to receive the beams of the rising sun on the spring and autumnal equinox - the light shining down the passage and illuminating the art on the backstone.
With its barren isolated location, Sliabh na Caillí became a critical meeting point throughout the Penal Laws for Roman Catholics.
[8] The Napiers built an extensive estate of some 180,000 acres (730 km²) in north Meath in the subsequent centuries which mirrored that developed by their neighbouring Cromwellians, the Taylors of Headfort.