The built environment and the archaeological heritage are part of what makes a place distinctive. The rich combination of wetland archaeology, monuments of all periods and a strong folklore tradition are what typifies the landscape of Glenullin, popularly known as “The Glen”. Glenullin has had several different names in earlier times. It has been called Gleann Dubh Rua – the red and black glen which probably referred to the colours of the landscape. Others have called it Gleann Ullain, the Glen of Uilla Mac Fionn, an ancient Irish hero reputed to be buried in the area. Perhaps the most romantic and the most popular title is Gleann An Iolar – THE EAGLE’S GLEN.

The area around Glenullin has been inhabited since early Stone Age. Ancient stone circles remind us of Stone Age burial sites. Culbane stone circle is older than the famous Stonehenge and yet many travellers in the area remain unaware of its existence.

Glenullin is littered with prehistoric raths, stone age villages, well preserved passage graves, bronze age cairns, ring forts, remnants of pre Christian and Christian religious sites and sites of mass rocks where Glenullin Catholics braved the elements to worship in the mountains during the penal days.

Glenullin raised bog is one of the best preserved examples in Ireland of this type of structure. The bog is the centre of Glenullin, an area of rough heath land laid down over thousands of years and containing plants and grasses rarely seen in any other part of the country.

For all these reasons Glenullin is a place of great interest. It is hoped that this website will serve many purposes. It will remind the local residents of the history archaeology and the natural beauty of the area in which they live. It is important that the children who live in Glenullin get a chance to explore their own locality, its flora and fauna, its wildlife, its history and its place in the development of Ireland.

Over the years many Glenullin natives have been forced by poverty or other social circumstances to emigrate to the four corners of the globe. We hope that they may get a look at this website so that they can be reminded of what they left behind and may be excited by these memories so that they can return if only for a holiday to see how Glenullin is today.

This website should also serve as an educational aid for teachers and scholars. Only those who appreciate the area in which they live will be able to understand why Glenullin is as it is today. Only they will recognise how some things have changed, how other things have stayed still for centuries and how parts of their locality will live long after they and their children no longer make a mark on the land that forms Glenullin.

Glenullin is an area full of interest to those who wish to know where we have come from or more importantly where we are going to. Most of the rock we see in Glenullin is Basalt, formed 60 million years ago when huge volcanoes spewed forth molten rock from the earth’s inner core as the continents, as we now know then, were pushing and squeezing their way into existence. Then 25 million years ago, the Ice came.

Although the temperature only dropped a few degrees the ice in the form of glaciers made its way across Europe. All but the extreme south of Ireland was covered. The glacier which affected Glenullin came northwards from the Sperrins gradually making its way towards the north Coast. At one time more than 1 kilometre of ice covered Glenullin. About 12,000 years ago that ice began to melt. The waters started to gush backwards towards Lough Neagh and it was then that the landscape of Glenullin took on the form we recognise today. Those waters tore into the soil forming Errigal Glen. Deep pools formed such as Legavannon and Legananam Pots, and lakes were scattered everywhere particularly in the area now known as Glenullin Bog. This was a period when large oak forests covered Ireland.

Man soon arrived and began to hack down swathes of forest to grow food. This rotting vegetation over thousands of years began to lay the base of Glenullin bog which today is one of the best preserved examples of raised Bog in Ireland. The bog is nourished only by rain water but supports an often unique form of vegetation which can be easily discovered by those keen to learn about flora and fauna. More than a dozen types of grass and more than 20 different flowering plants have been discovered there. The bog and the Glen itself is home to a wide variety of native and migrant bird species. Although the eagle no longer visits, kestrels and buzzards, snipe and curlew can still be seen and must be encouraged and protected.