From here,
http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/GlastonburyArchive/ndlstone/05needle.html
Paragraph above the apt Dod cartoon.
"This idea that the energy of thunderstorms might somehow be locked up or stored until some kind of reservoir reaches bursting point brings us back to the idea of barrows as energy-stores, and to an interesting piece of archaeological folklore. There's always been a folk-superstition that some kind of 'divine retribution' follows the 'desecration' of ancient sites, particularly barrows. If you look back through the records, you'll find that this superstition has a basis in fact, for in the case of some barrows a thunderstorm followed within hours or minutes of the opening of the barrow.[19] The same coincidence still occurs from time to time, as happened when a barrow on Parliament Hill in north London was opened recently; and I've heard that it is apparently a respectable piece of professional lore among present-day archaeologists. What is not respectable is to suggest that there might be a causal link between the breaching of the barrow and the thunderstorm that followed."
[19] See Barry Marsden, The Early Barrow-Diggers; the relevant sections are quoted in Janet and Colin Bord, The Secret Country, pp.205-9, along with some similar examples of apparent weather-control.
It's not just stones and barrows that have the retribution lore attached, some trees do too, I think there are a couple of instances in Ireland, one road goes around an ancient thorn as there was so much concern about retribution if it was felled, although i think someone did damage it greatly after the road was diverted but it's sprung back to life.
"Rejoin the N18, and follow the signs for Ennis. To your left, a few kilometres before the village of Clarecastle, you'll notice that a new stretch of road curves around a small tree. Local tradition associates the tree with the fairies, or 'little people'; supernatural beings believed to inhabit the Irish countryside. Irish folklore is replete with tales of the grim fates which befell people who damaged or interfered with 'fairy-trees'. Older Clare people will talk of the spate of accidents suffered by the builders of Shannon airport, after they damaged a 'fairy-tree'. Whoever supervised the laying of the road outside Clarecastle was taking no chances, although the 'modification' added tens of thousands of pounds to the cost of the project."
from here
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2588112-limerick_tours-i
Rune