Drumanone

My grandfather James Carroll who lives in Spa Boyle told me the following story about the Druids altar. There is a Druids altar in Tinnecara to the north side of the railway in Thomas Ballintinels land. The altar is made of three large stones two uprights and one over head. Each stone weighs about ten tons weight. The druids used to come home from Knockadoo and swim across Lough Gara to worship their god at this altar.

At a short distance to the north of this mill, on the right hand side of the road going towards the lake, and not far off it, stands one the largest cromlechs that I have seen in Ireland. The sloping upper stone is fifteen feet long by eleven broad; its greatest thickness two feet six inches, and its average thickness might perhaps be safely set down at eighteen inches. It is now supported by four upright stones, but, once, had a fifth. To this, the neighbouring miller, in an evil hour, took a fancy, judging it would make an admirable stone for his mill; and with much difficulty and labour he removed it from its place; but just as the operation was on the point of being completed, the stone, to the amazement and terror of the bystanders, flew into a thousand pieces; an occurence which was interpreted as a judgement upon the miller for his audacious violation of this sacred work of antiquity. The people still look upon the cromlechs with a degree of respect, if not veneration, althought they have no notion of their origin, or of the purposes to which they were destined.