A new state-of-the-art visitor experience to showcase the Céide Fields, the world’s most extensive Stone Age monument in County Mayo, Ireland, has been officially opened.

Céide Fields visitor centre © Fáilte Ireland courtesy Alison Crummy

The new attraction will help to drive tourism in north Mayo and along the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, with thousands more visitors expected each year.

The Céide Fields are a unique and extensive Neolithic archaeological site, celebrated for the complex and extensive remains of ancient field systems and habitations. The enhanced experience at the centre includes improved interpretation that tells the archaeological story of the site and its discovery.

Céide Fields © Fáilte Ireland courtesy Alison Crummy

A new state-of-the-art audio-visual exhibition will draw domestic and international tourists to the site, encouraging them to learn more about the rich heritage of the region, and to explore north Mayo and its surrounds.

Fáilte Ireland, along with Ireland’s Office of Public Works and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, have invested over €2.6million in the new immersive experience at the visitor centre, which will position the Céide Fields as a must see destination along the Wild Atlantic Way.

View of cliffs from Céide Fields © Fáilte Ireland courtesy Alison Crummy

Commenting on the launch, Ireland’s Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin said: “The Céide Fields is an extremely significant historical site, in Ireland and across the world. The new visitor experience will enable visitors from home and abroad to immerse themselves in the fascinating heritage of the Céide Fields and encourage more people to visit beautiful north Mayo, generating significant economic impact for the area.”

Hidden beneath the blanket of bog, the Céide Fields is the most extensive Stone Age monument in the world. It is a “landscape fossilised”, as poet Seamus Heaney described it in Belderg, of stone-walled fields, dwelling houses and megalithic monuments. There is nowhere else in the world with such evidence of how the first farmers farmed the land; only at the Céide Fields can visitors get a unique insight into the sophistication of the land management of our Neolithic farming ancestors almost 6,000 years ago.

Céide Fields visitor centre © Fáilte Ireland courtesy Peter McCabe

Malcolm Noonan T.D., Ireland’s Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, said: “This exciting, modern, updated exhibition will bring visitors back in time to see one of Ireland’s oldest monuments in a fresh new light. The prehistoric fields, houses and tombs are a silent witness to the Neolithic farmers who first brought agriculture to Ireland.

"Lying hidden for thousands of years beneath the bog, the story of the men and women who affected the Irish landscape and built our earliest monuments is now imaginatively brought to life and up to date in terms of archaeological research. This uniquely Irish landscape is truly of international significance and I commend all those involved for developing this fitting tribute to one of our most important National Monuments in State care.”

If you or your group would like to step back in time on a tour of Ireland’s Neolithic sites on one of our Ancient History Tours, or perhaps you would like to enjoy a visit to the Céide Fields as part of a journey along the Wild Atlantic Way, then please do contact our friendly team today.