Ballynoe

04/08/2015 – Seeing the photos on TMA of this circle a few months back left such an impression on me. I knew that given the first chance I would try to make my way here to see the stones for myself. If you have access to a car getting there is no problem but it’s not too bad by bus either. There is a bus that runs to Ballynoe but it’s not that frequent. We instead took the 17A bus from Newcastle to Downpatrick. We got off at Ballydugan crossroads on the A25. A couple of miles walk on quietish country roads and we made it to the signposted path to Ballynoe stone circle. The overgrown path off the road to the circle is really lovely and at this time of year it felt like walking through a gateway to another realm. After a few minutes we reached the circle. To folk that have already been I’m sure it will come as no surprise to read that I found Ballynoe stone circle to be as wonderful as I had hoped. A fantastic circle of stones surrounding a cairn with its own kerb. Some lovely outliers as well. Lots to look at and a great location. We sat just outside the circle to have our sandwiches. Just looking across to the stones and the landscape beyond. A perfect few hours spent doing not much of nothing.