Skirk

A multi-faceted, multi-period site, this is easy to find at the side of the road at Shirke Crossroads. According to the Arch. Inventory of Co. Laois there are a henge, a standing stone within the henge, a norman motte and bailey within the henge, a mound that could be a barrow, 4 fulachtaí fiadh, a possible megalithic structure and several urn burials.
The standing stone within the henge is a conglomerate, rising to above 2 metres. The henge itself is very impressive, with an outside ditch and massive banks, 96 metres E–W and 90 metres N–S in diameter.
There were many thrown down stones on the western side of the monument, any of which could be the remains of the ‘cromleach’ that Ledwich described in 1803.
The whole of the site is terribly overgrown and could do with a clean-up. Walking north to the church I was struck with the views from this prominence – the Slieve Bloom mountains dominate the northern horizon.