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County Cork
DrombegStone Circle
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Fieldnotes |
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| The excavation of Drombeg by Fahy (JCHAS 1959) revealed that the entire inner area of the circle was covered with a gravelled floor layer up to 10cm thick. The modern surface is therefore not only highly practical but also in keeping with the original design - perhaps for similar reasons. |
Posted by Madra Rua 22nd August 2005ce |
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A beautiful site in an equally beautiful location. Drombeg's dark reputation doesn't seem to hold up. The setting of the portals and recumbent is perfect and easy to work out. The nearby huts and cooking place add to the atmosphere. I always leave sites with a bit of other people's litter - a used flourescent red condom from the recumbent was taken from this vist. Nice. |
Posted by IronMan17th April 2002ce |
Folklore |
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This well known site has long had a sinister reputation for human sacrifice. Excavations which took place in the late 1950s found offerings of human remains, suggesting this may well have been the case. From Burl's 'Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany': "In September, 1935, Boyle Somerville returned to Drombeg with a psychic, Miss Geraldine Cummings. She did not like the place. She felt it was a centre of nature and sun worship conjoined with the moon, a place where animals, if not small children, were sacrificed at each winter solstice. She 'saw' a priest in blue and saffron robes standing at the altar of the recumbent about to kill his human offering. There were weekly ceremonies but 'the great Day of the Blood Sacrifice was near the end of December. Then horrible things were practised in the twilight. There were strange dances in which men and women stabbed each other in a frenzy. There was an abandonment in action and behaviour which I may not describe.' Drombeg was cursed. It was 'guarded by the spirits of darkness'." |
Posted by IronMan 20th April 2002ce |
Miscellaneous |
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"You enter the circle between the two largest or portal stones, which are both bigger than you. Directly opposite, on the other side of the circle, is a stone called 'recumbent' or 'axial' by archaeologists; by which they mean it lies sidewards rather than upwards. Ancient markings have been carved on it's upper surface. It's been suggested that they represent axes, and this proves that these circles were not a place of worship, but the focal points of a Cult of the Axe which existed in Western Europe in Neolithic times. Or the stones may have enclosed a market-place, and the axial stone was the counter on which goods were traded. I have to say, though, that shopping seems an unlikely motive to me. Proponents of this undeniable imaginative theory make comparisons with shopping malls, which might be seen as the new temples. Shoppers are worshippers, McDonalds is the sacrament, Nike provide the vestments; but the theory is of course rampant bollocks, and seems so particularly in a part of the world where there are no malls, but you can still buy a bicycle in a pub. The stone is quite clearly, an altar stone, and something would have been placed or celebrated- or sacrificed-on it." Pete McCarthy McCarthy's Bar Pub. Septre Lir 2000 |
Posted by fitzcoraldo8th September 2002ce |
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The word Drombeg means 'The Small Ridge'. The site is known locally as 'The Druid's Altar'. Roughly 120 feet away are the remains of two prehistoric stone huts, which have a doorway connecting them. One of the huts has a cooking place, which was still in use up to the 5th Century CE. A trough located within this kitchen was used for boiling water. This was done by dropping red hot stones into the water. It has been tested, and it showed that 70+ gallons of water could be boiled for three hours using this method. |
Posted by IronMan 5th April 2002ce |
Links |
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irelandaerialphotography.comA great picture of Drombeg from the sky. |
Posted by gjrk18th October 2009ce |
Drombeg by Graeme BarkerA photo of the circle before the gravel was laid inside. |
Posted by CianMcLiam1st July 2005ce Edited 1st July 2005ce |
MegalithicsImages and description of this site. |
Posted by IronMan 5th April 2002ce |
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