Millen Bay Court Cairn is situated in the townland of Keentagh on the south eastern side of the Ards Peninsular County Down it was was excavated in 1953, it is thought to have been built sometime between 3,000 and 2,500 BC, at the south end of the site the remains of at least 15 individuals were discovered, the bones were arranged not as skeletons but in piles the sculls together the long bones in a neat pile with the other bones sorted according to size in piles.

Why this was done is not exactly clear although if you consider the practicality's involved, the site was in effect a family or tribal vault it may have been reserved for tribal leaders, we don't know and it is unlikely that we ever will. The vault or cist was of limited size only .6 M (24 inches) wide, enough to lay out a body which would decompose leaving the skeleton complete.

When the time came for the next burial the bones would be gathered and placed along with the others, clearing the ground for the new corpse.

This type of burial was more prevalent in the portion of Ireland north of a line between County's Louth and Mayo, with the County's Down, Sligo and Mayo appearing to have densest distribution.

Looking East across Millen Bay the Isle of Mann is just discernable in the distance.

Looking West From Millen Bay Cairn, the hill behind would appear to have been a rath or fortified communal dwelling, its incredible to think that some 5,000 years ago the stone age people living out their lives there, our ancestors, probably marched in solemn procession down the hill to inter a father, a brother, a grandmother, no doubt they like modern man saw death as a temporary parting before reunification in a better life.

Go to prehistoric sites in Co Down.