Four Knocks

Four Knocks is a Passage Chamber Tomb built about 5000 years ago. It is located 10 miles southeast of Newgrange between Ardcath in County Meath and the Naul in County Dublin. The name Fourknocks may be from the Irish Fuair Cnocs meaning Cold Hills.

These passage graves are decorated with abstract art and bear the first depiction of a human face found in prehistoric art in Ireland. Three earthen mounds were excavated by the National Museum in 1950-1952. One covered a passage grave to crucification plan, with decoted uprights and lintels resembling the Newgrance designs. The contents of this tomb were intact and so the results were of immense importance and value to students of the megalithic period in Ireland and the world. The contents found were of great importance with fragmentary human remains representing dozens of bodies of all ages and sexes. These were accompanied by grave offerings (stone beads and miniature hammer pendants, bone pins etc.) in the three side chambers.