The Legend of Brennigan

Irish lore has it that when the Cambro-Norman invaders entered Ireland in the 12th century, a Celtic warrior named Naechlin Ta Brennigan escaped persecution by hiding in a hole no larger than a bear's den.

In the 1960s, the hole was rediscovered by a government worker on a picnic. It had become filled up with garbage and leaves.

In 2005 the county council of Sligo campaigned to have it restored to its original state, and a team of Turkish hauling experts removed the trash. Today the hole where Brennigan became a hero is known as "Brennigan's Hole."

According to local tradition, pre-adolescent boys who spend a night in the Hole will soon grow a beard.

Tourists can also have their photos taken at the Hole, and each June, during the Brennigan's Hole Festival, the burrow is filled with papier-mache skulls containing chocolate-coated pennies.