Latest Fieldnotes

This site has just been cleared. It is approx. 60m in diameter. Access is poor.

I find tombs most bizarre, they look almost alien without their outer layers and this is no exception.

Intriguing circle, though overgrown by hedges and a fence dissects the site. It is in private land with no access so seeking permission is advisable. The bank and setting of the stones is very similar to Grange but there is a circle within the circle as well. There is an outer bank which is retained by the outer stones. There is a mini circle just outside the circle in a similar fashion to that at grange. It is possible this is a burial mound, however.

I couldnt get up close to this one either. One thing I did find very interesting was its proximity to Croghan Hill. I would be very interested to see how Croghan Hill looks from the standing stone. The stone is just below the dip of a hill and I was think that just the belly/breast of Croghan Hill would be visible behind it.
Seems to be some kind of crop down so that should be harvested by the end of the summer so will be worth a second look then.
See this post for an idea of the view from the standing stone in the field just beside it.
themodernantiquarian.com/post/46447

This site isnt far from Kildare travelling north. It is on the Hill called Grange on a lower peak a little to the west. I dont know how old the mound is. It is quiet a big mound between 10m diameter and about 5m high. I was interested in it because of its place on the hills of the curragh plus the folklore/traditional name for the hill is the Chair of Kildare. Ive no idea why that is. The summit of Dunmurry hill also appears to have a mound on top but it is not marked on the OS map and so probably is just a trig point mound.

This is a heavily Christainised site. The Fire Temple is where St. Bridgit’s nuns tended an eternal flame that was put out in 1530 by Norman invaders.

This tradition of the eternal flame must have dated to far older than the early Christain period and its association with St. Bridgit/ the Goddess Brigid make this an important site. There is a vault called “Bridgits Kitchen” as well.

The round-tower costs €5 to go into and is one of only two round-towers in Ireland that has been restored for use as a tower. There is a charge to enter the catheral as well (I can’t remember how much it is). Bizarrely the tomb of one of the bishops of Kildare from the 16th Century has a Sile-na-Gig on it!

Visiting times are from May-Sept (definitely May not sure about Sept) from 10-1am and 2-5pm. Kildare can be got to easily from the M7.

I know there is a lot of folklore attached to this site, the book “How the Irish saved Civilisation” has a good section on the historical Bridgit. I’ve loaned it to a friend, but once I get it back I’ll update this section.

Carbury Hill is on the Eiscar Riada and is close to Trinity Well the source of the River Boyne that runs by Bru na Boinne.
This has multiple phases of use. There are the two barrows that are dated to the bronze age, a motte and of course the tower-house which is impressive and worth a look around. This hill looks very dramatic and you get a feeling that with the mupltiple periods of use this is an important hill. I’m looking for more folklore/history about this site.

Carbury can be found by turning off in Enfield on the M4, the road is windy. Head into the village of Carbury and turn right at in the middle of the village. There is a Protestant church you can park beside. There is also the ruins of another church and graveyard on the hill.

Ive yet to be able to find this well. It is in on an old estate and everytime I try to get in to see it there are bullocks or something blocking my way. The best to park to try is at a Bus Eireann stop adjacent to the gates of the demense. The road in is basically one way with few places to turn so you would have to reverse back out. The big country house is meant to have been built on a passage mound.

This well is around to the north side of the hill opposite the village of Cloghan. It is called a St. Patrick’s well, but it has a Bridget’s cross and statutes and dedications to her.
I would have to speculate that this was originally and Bridget’s well that was taken over and rededicated to St. Patrick.

The best way up to the mound is from Carbury Village itself. Across from the shop there is a little lane which leads up to a few fields which have been used for show-jumping. Follow the gravel path here and then through the fields to the top. Again the views are amazing across the bog of allen and the feeling of this being an island is even more than on the top of the Hill of Allen. This must have been a very important hill as its is the only good land in the area.
To me the mound makes the hill look like the belly of the goddess or possibly her nipple. Ive no idea of the age of this mound so I cant comment on whether it is recent or ancient.

The Hill of Allen stands out of the Bog of Allen like an island. It has an awful lot of folklore attached to it re the Irish mythical hero Fionn MacCumhail (who is often associated with the sun and brightness). There is room for about two cars to park on the south side of the hill coming from Kildare/Newbridge a little after a small power-plant on the left.
There are paths up the hill from here and the views from it are amazing looking over the bog of allen, into wicklow and the curragh and Cloghan Hill is interdivisable from here.

[visited circa may 2006] Back again again. I’ve revisited this site several times since my first notes, it used to be on my way home and was ideal for a 1/2 hour chill from the hectic life(tm).

Anyhow, I’ve also revisited my thoughts on the potential bank barrow. Having seen all of the visible ones in Dorset from the ground, I think this definately qualifies to be classed alongside them. Its certainly as long and if this land has been ploughed a lot, the lesser height and width can be explained easily.

More importantly in my mind:
- its older than the obviously old stone wall that cuts across it.
- it seems to be thicker at the higher end
- it has no defensive use
- it points at the long barrow

Anyone in the area who’s also seen a ‘proper’ bank barrow should go have a look!

When I walked the coastal path by the distillery in February, the field between it and Lingro had been newly ploughed and seeded. As I result soilmarks and exposed stone plainly showed where the broch and settlement had been. On the flat section you could furthermore see the contrast between the area where the broch tower had been and that of the outworks, all picked out in stone scatter besides. Stone scatter was seen on the rise above and again on the rise above that, but walking further along I noticed when alongside these that the stones in the higher rise were a magnitude larger than those in the lower scatter so perhaps not to be associated with the broch. These two sets end where there is a long natural rectangular bite of a cliff, the fieldwall following the three sides.

A few years back I noticed stones projecting from the modern ground surface by the NE end about a metre from the wall (i.e. closer to the cliff), mostly darker than those of the fieldwall, that appeared to be the remains of a previous wall. This is much reduced but a higher level than the presumably submerged wall foundation. Since the footpath has been renovated several further stretches of this wall/feature have been exposed. On one by the northern side (HY43370871) 6-12” high I now found a ~4x1.2m collection of stones far bigger than those making up either wall – ranging from 23-29½ by 16-23” by 3-10” – and definitely not from either, clean of lichen as well. Not sure whether I missed these before or the path renovation has disclosed them, but they are certainly not there naturally and were once presumably structural.

Coming back I noticed in the top of the modern wall further down (HY43420872) what could be a pivot stone. It measures 15x5½x5” and the circular depresssion is 1¼ across and 1” deep, which is too small for a main broch door.

Every once in a while you come across a place that puts your head in a spin and in all the confusion you just want to laugh. This is a very odd place. Very, very odd. After seeing a handful of pics in a picture library of a stone circle with some unusual looking arrangements around it, there was nothing else to be done only track this strange place down and see it for myself.

First of all it was only discovered when the site was being cleared to lay down gardens after the land had been purchased for development into a park. It has since been cleaned up and restored to an unknown extent. It now forms part of a walking trail around Millstreet Country Park, situated below and in sight of Knocknakilla Hill and its more famous stone circles.

The park has a visitor centre, restaurant, gardens, water courses complete with jumping salmon, wandering deer and this magnificent Bronze Age site.
When you first see it after a 15 minute walk from the visitor centre, the first thing that springs to mind is how well preserved the medium sized circle with its sub-two foot stones is. Then you cant help wondering about the intriguing arrangements of stones surrounding it. Then you read the information board and find out that the ‘circle’ is in fact that curious arrangement of slabs that looks like it cant decide whether its a ruined portal or wedge tomb. When complete this must have looked more like a five stone rectangle. The portals are set radially and the remaining side stone, its cropped opposite partner and the axial form a neat box.
The stone still standing (barely) are over almost four foot tall and a pile of left overs lie to one side.

The radial circle is an almost perfect circle that could have been transplanted from Beaghmore in Tyrone, it is similar in size to the smaller circles there but obviously the radial setting of the stones make this pretty unique. Near the center is a fallen stone about three foot long. To the North West is a fallen three stone row, to the south west of this row are two more prostrate long stones. To the south east of the circle is a five foot outlier almost fallen into the circle itself. Other stones jut out of the grass aroundabout.

This is a fascinating place, full of oddities and mysteries (not least why its still almost unknown). The park can easily fill a full day on its own but you could spend most of it here at this strange complex.

We visited the site in April 2000 and were totally perplexed by the layout of the stones. I’m not at all convinced that they represent a field system but cannot offer a better explanation. I contacted the National Monument Record at English Heritage about the site. They quoted the Elgee article but also sent me notes and a site plan from a survey carried out by the Scarborough and District Archaeological Society in June 1966.

They recorded measurements on 116 stones and assigned them to 5 possible rows. The stones averaged 17.1 in. in height (range 6 to 54 in.), 16.4 in. in width (range 6 to 33 in.) and 9.3 in. in depth (range 4 to 40 in.)

A new rock art panel at Morwick Crag has been found by Team 2 of the Northumberland & Durham Rock Art Project (Special Boat Unit). The vertical rock face lies directly between Stan’s 1 and 2 series on a vertical part of the cliff that overhangs the river, facing due north. On the east side of this panel round the corner (left hand side on the photos), panel 1f is about 3m high above the path that ducks under this overhang and carries a nice array of horned and linked spirals.
The new panel probably continues this theme although the motifs are hard to see as they are completely covered in a uniform yellowish lichen similar to congealed custard. There are hints that multiple similar motifs lie on this new panel. Better light and some ladders will be required for a closer look.
Our early analysis is that all the motifs on Morwick Cliff may have been made from a path running along the crag line and would not have required any climbing or ladders by their original carvers. This path has now been severely eroded by the river leaving a few of the panels more than 3m above ground level. Futher river erosion and rock falls are a continued cause of concern at this site.

This marked rock was discovered 18 months ago , I was particularly chuffed to find it as I had ancestors living within 500 yards of it 200 years ago.For those interested in such things the azimuth from the stone to the apparent bealach between Meall raemhar and Meall nan Caorach is 155 degrees , the extreme southern moonrise .

Can’t find any documentary evidence on this one, but....
Unless you knew it was there it can only be spotted from the bottom of the permissive footpath that exits RedMoor nature reserve and climbs to meet the Saints Way. Once you start climbing it is hidden by gorse bushes and once on the Saints Way the banks are so high you can see nothing.
It’s a big stone!...and just outside the area enclosing Helman Tor. An ancient trackway passes just down slope from it and in the hedge/scrub behind is a large dump of granite that has been cleared from the field. Why was this stone left?
So, I can not prove its origins or find a record of it on maps or any of my books...but it feels right!

I have now had it suggested to me that this stone has been moved from elsewhere in the field...and that they had dowsed the field and found an area with a stone setting in it...

Go look for yourself..and while you are there enjoy the “prehistoric” wildness of Red Moor reserve.

We were there in July 2004. Couldn’t fit a Mousa boat trip in our schedule, so under a ridiculously blue sky drove south the A970 to Leebotten (where the Mousa ferry leaves), then further to Sandwick, then taking the small road that leads up to Ward of Burraland hill. At the end there was some space to park the car. Walked back down some 100m then took the first track right to Mousa Sound. Before long the track turned right alongside the sound and onward to some ruins which seemed pretty recent. A bit further was an istmus leading to a mini peninsula named Hoga according to the map. The broch is mainly in ruins, though the double wall can clearly be seen. The floor seems to have collapsed as there’s a depression in the centre. Around, there’s some evidence of other buildings. The setting is stupendous, the birds, the quiet – Shetland. Got good views of the Mousa Broch. Then suddenly it struck us that there must have been living some pretty advanced folk here. If so many people could have lived here for so long, than, considering it’s just as far to Norway as it is to the Faroes, as it is from there to Iceland, from Iceland to Greenland... yep, it is very well possible we thought, that these people actually set foot in the Americas ages before the Iberians...
The only piece of information I readily found was “Mousa broch is smaller in diameter than most, and today there is no sign of any surrounding structures apart from a possible rampart. Across the sound its neighbour, Burraland broch, does have evidence of settlement around it, but awaits further investigation.” (from orkneyshetland.co.uk/shetland/mousa.html) and some stuff that I can’t access at scran.ac.uk/database/results.php?search_term=burraland (Burraland loch is somewhere else; there’s a lot of burra on Shetland)
More on our 2004 Shetland stay: users.skynet.be/bert_saskia/travel/scotland/northernatlantic/index2.html

Visited on 06/05/06. It was a warm spring day, with a thunderstorm threatening, but not arriving. Hardly anyone visits this rather uninspiring fell, one of the dullest in the Lakes, just a bit of a grassy wedge. However, on a fresh day, with cloud shadows chasing across the landscape, the views would be worth it without the barrow.
The barrow’s nowt to write home about, but if you did it’d go summthing like this: “Saw a Bronze age barrow today. Quite a small barrow, grassy, with a modern cairn on top.” It’s set on the western edge of the fell, where the ground falls steeply away. To the west the bog of Flaska stretches away to Castlerigg stone circle, north north west to Carrock Fell hillfort, east to The Cockpit and south to the Beckstones rock art. It’s probably 15 to 20 feet in diameter and a few feet high.
An easy ascent, with time to spend on top if you’ve got a spare hour.

Just outside of the village of Clonbulloge, turn left in the village over the bridge then right after the bridge, follow this road for about 400m and its on the left hand side, is this cute anvil shaped/mushroom standing stone.
Clonbulloge in irish is Cluain Bolg which got me thinking of Fir Bolg so not sure really what it means. The stone seems to be between Clonbulloge and Clonkeen.

Its tricky enough to get up to this hill, its just behind a farm. I snuck up through the crop fields and then across some pasture to just below the top of the hill. The views up here are magnificant and you can see the whole world from up here, the views stretch on for miles. The most important view in my opinon and possibly why the barrow is situated here is the view to the hills to the east.
From right to left, the Hill of Allen has a lot of mythology associated with it.
Taken from www.HillofAllen.net “Allen has always been identified as the home of the legendary hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna. A fortress of white walled dwellings within a rampart, was said to have been built by Nuada, chief druid of the high king. The Fianna was a band of warriors founded in 300 BC to protect the high king. A great battle took place here in 722 AD, one of a series resulting from the adulterous marriage between a Leinster king and the daughter of the king. In the battle some 9,000 Ui Neill were killed, including a bard who continued to recite after he had been beheaded!”
& also
“about a quarter of a mile distant, is a slight eminence called the Leap of Allen, composed of red sandstone conglomerate, arranged in beds varying in thickness” possibly to do with one of them giants jumping myths.
The next hill is Grange Hill, I noticed it is also called the Chair of Kildare. There is an unusual looking mound on this hill which may have something to with this name.
Dunmurry Hill is a very prominent looking hill.
Im a bit tired of barrows for the time being so this is the last barrow chase for a while.

I took my pictures when I was on holiday up there. I forgot to record where it was. I spotted some pictures on the web and realised where it was so here they are.

Strange, I must’ve been to Long Meg at least a dozen times over the last few years but I have never been to Glassonby before. Well, this weekend, I decided to rectify that and am really glad I did.

I spotted the site over the hedge as we drove out of the village – take the left hand fork at the village centre and the circle is in a field on your right hand side.

The grass was quite high and the approach is lovely; the centre of the circle was covered with blue bells. It is hard to photograph, other than on the approach, so I took a video. No sunlight = no shadows so I didn’t see any rock art.

Now I realise quite how easy it is to get to, I’ll come back on a better day and spend more time here. Lovely.

This barrow is small about 5-7m diameter. I missed it the first time i came here as I was drawn to the big military bank.