Much easier to find than I expected, it is well signposted from the centre of Castletownbere. Clearly a monument of local importance, it has very easy access and plenty of field space to allow you to stand back and consider how impressive it once must have been in its complete state. It would seem that destroying either one or both of the portals of these stone circles was sufficient to see off the pagan spectre and plenty of the stone circles in this part of the country have a buck-toothed appearance as a result.

Somehow this only adds to this site, the remaining stones couldn't possibly appear more defiant and proud, this is one of those circles which seems to have a personality ot itself, apart from the human effort put into making and breaking it. A great site.

This is a very impressive stone, it stands on a knoll with views over the coast but inland it is surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains.

Clearly visible from the road as you drive down the hill into the harbour, it was surely a beacon for ancient mariners, given the sheer number of ancient remains in the area it possibly marks one of the busiest places for trade and rest along the coast.

Its worth knowing before visiting that you will be greeted on arrival by the people who own the land and for a €2 coin you will be given the nod and a badly printed sheet of info taken directly from the stonepages website.

This is a worrying trend in the locality, some landowners leave a donation box for you to exchange courtesies with a small contribution and there are few places that aren't worth parting with a euro or two to visit if your getting signageand a decent trackway. Charging people up front though does leave you feeling ripped off when there is no service or added value being offered to the traveller.

It stands 5.3m tall and though it is clearly quite ancient it looks surprisingly modern, its shape and colour brings to mind the stones of Callanish and its weather beaten location with fine views of the harbour takes some beating.

The ogham insciption is fairly worn and very high up on the stone, it was also in the shade on my visit so did not come out in any photographs.

This is a nice, if battered, stone circle. It is not a great stone circle however and hardly likely to cause awe in the casual visitor. Why then, when surrounded by some dramatic and downright jaw-dropping circles so nearby, are those with whetted appetites asked to fork out €2 to spend some time trying to figure out which end is up at Shronebirrane? No getting past it though and despite my indignant and incredulous look I had to hand over the cash to gain entry and a photocopied sheet with one of those B&W pics that is really just a square of blobs, if you stare long enough you might see the face of Jesus Christ or Juda Priest.

If you are really flush though you can walk the mountain path for another €4.

The circle itself is reduced to an arc of disjointed limbs, cowering nervously at the bottom of the cavernous hills surrounding it. The valley setting is spectacular but any sense of wonder is completly shattered by the bungalow plonked right beside the circle.

This is a beautiful circle in a wonderful location. It didn't really stand out when I browsed through TME but when I looked up some pics on Megalithomania.com I knew this would be near the top of the list for the next tour of Cork/Kerry.

I took the words of those who were here previously seriously and left myself plenty of time to get here. It's not incredibly far in terms of distance but it is a bit of a hairy journey. I could find no trace of any of the signs and walkways mentioned in TME and ended up relying on the sometimes dodgy combination of GPS and 'as the crow flies' navigation. I'm pretty sure I picked the most difficult route to get here, when I got to the circle I passed one of the Beara Way markers but looking back it seemed this track would lead me past the herd of crazy eyed bulls that loitered around the gate to the lane that would make the most direct route.
After getting mugged for €2 at both Ballycrovane and Shronebirrane I would not have been one bit surprised if the cows wanted a feckin toll to cross as well.

After falling through two hedges and over and under countless barbed wire fences, slipping into drainage trenches and getting torn on thorns I finally spotted the portal stone framed under a lovely tree. The sun was really scorching the ground when I finally sat and caught my breath against one of the old stones.

This circle is far better than in the photos, although overgrown it is wonderfully complete and the stones are perfectly chosen. It's location is probably only second to Uragh, you can survey for miles withoug seeing a single bungalow and it takes no effort to cast your mind back to when these craggy charmers were dragged to this spot.

The only thing that detracted from this place was some clever person leaving a sheep skull and a slab of stone with a hand perfectly painted in sparkly pink nail varnish on the boulder burial...