Official tourism website for Northern Ireland
En

Folkways and Ritual Landscapes

Ulster American Folk Park, 2 Mellon Road, Omagh, County Tyrone, BT78 5QU

Book Tickets Online

About

Want to know how to keep your livestock healthy?  Learn plant lore? Or bury your leader?  The spirit world has the answers. So, join Martin Bradley on a visit to sites that were sacred in Bronze and Iron Age Ireland; to the tombs and standing stones,  the quaking bogs, the healing wells and other places of powerful magic. 

Fairy trees, for instance. Usually whitethorns, their blossom heralds the arrival of summer and were celebrated at the Celtic festival of ‘Bealtaine’ or May Day. These trees were imbued with sacred significance and performed a central role in various rituals. Pilgrims would leave small offerings - a strip of cloth tied to a branch was a typical one - and make a wish. If you see a piece of ribbon on the tree Martin shows you, you’ll know that local people are still putting their faith in these trees.  

You’ll visit sacred wells with Martin too. It was believed that drinking from them would protect you from harm and ill health. Some had the power to bestow wisdom and poetic inspiration. Such beliefs about Northern Ireland’s sacred wells have survived to the present day. They are places where the veil between our world and the other world is at its thinnest. You will learn, in fact, that at certain times of the Celtic year, the division between the two worlds disappears...

Martin will also tell you about bog bodies. These are human bodies which have been mummified by the habitats that they have lain in - sometimes for thousands of years. The ecology and chemistry found in Northern Ireland’s peat bogs provide a perfect medium for preservation, in effect pickling  human remains and other organic material for hundreds of generations. 

The preservation of these bodies happened naturally. But the way in which these people met their death was not. Hearing Martin relate their stories - of deliberate injury and ritual human sacrifice -  may make you shiver, even on a hot summer’s day. Bog bodies like these provided Seamus Heaney with the subject for some of his most famous and imaginative poems. Just like this series of landscape experiences, they are sure to exert a powerful force on your own imagination too.

Book now >>

Book Tickets

Folkways and Ritual Landscapes

Map & Directions

What's Nearby

  1. Journey back in time at the Ulster American Folk Park, from the Old World of Ulster to…

    0.02 miles away
  2. The Abingdon Collection represents over 45 years of passionate collecting and is divided…

    1.03 miles away
  3. Explore the grounds & meet the farm animals.
    Come and take a walk through history as you…

    3.53 miles away
  4. There are over 10km of walking trails, a 6km scenic drive, wildfowl enclosure and deer…

    3.9 miles away
  5. Strule Arts Centre is situated in the heart of Omagh, County Tyrone. Strule Arts Centre…

    4.24 miles away
  6. Let me help you discover your family roots in Northern Ireland. As well as identifying…

    4.25 miles away
  7. Thought to have been built around 1320 by a local chieftain of the O’Neill clan, but…

    4.39 miles away
  8. The power of the O’Neill chieftains in Tyrone came to an end in 1607. Defeated in battle…

    4.44 miles away
  9. Dún Uladh is a centre which showcases Irish culture: dance, song, language, crafts and…

    5.19 miles away
  10. Located 3km from An Creggan, this is a burial chamber which has a front chamber and a…

    9.73 miles away
  11. This well preserved and unusual monument is in an extensive area of blanket peat near the…

    10.14 miles away
  12. Sion Stables is a visitor attraction located in the historic linen village of Sion Mills…

    10.3 miles away
  13. This Castle commands a strategic location on the River Derg. Recent excavations revealed…

    10.96 miles away
  14. Situated at the foothills of the Sperrins, An Creagán is distinctively designed to mirror…

    11.98 miles away
  15. This is the only example of an Ogham Stone inscription in County Tyrone, situated 7km…

    11.99 miles away
  16. The Alley Arts and Conference Centre is a theatre complex, art gallery, visitor…

    12.72 miles away

Virtual Tour

Map & Directions

Back to Top

Tourism Northern Ireland

Don't Miss