Sites within Ardristan

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Images

Image of Ardristan (Standing Stone / Menhir) by CianMcLiam

Colours all wrong off the laptop, this one tweaked on home PC.

Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com

Articles

Ardristan

Visited April 2012, this site is easy to find, being on the N81 south of Tullow. Access is through/over a gate that had a ‘No Shooting’ sign on it, on the left hand side of the road...the stone is visible from the road, depending on the growth of the hedgerows that is! No cattle were present (phew!) when I visited...I got the impression that a crop had just been planted...which means that visitors later in the year may have to keep a better eye out for the stone, as the height of the crop increases!! A lovely stone, with a strong presence....much taller than I first thought as I approached it....the grooves give it a more geometric grace somehow!!?! Nice.

Ardristan

This stone is really great, its also much taller than I remembered from my last visit. The grooves are very deep and perhaps are enhanced natural features of the stone. Its almost three metres tall and is clearly visible from the road from Tullow to the N80.

While I was taking some sunset photos I heard a very menacing snorting noise very close behind me. While the field seemed empty when I climbed over the gate, I was now face to face with a massive bull who was very unhappy to have visitors. I very slowly gathered up my stuff and paced back to the gate, with the bull and four others walking about three metres behind every step of the way. I could hear the snorting getting faster and faster and about 6 metres from the gate I made a run for it, throwing my tripod over the gate, the bull charged at his point and stopped just short of the gate, stamping and making very nasty noises and I was still not over the top but luckily he seemed satisfied I had left for good so he then turned and charged at another bull.

This is probably the closest I’ve been to serious injury out taking pictures so please, check every corner of the field you are in and adjoining fields if the gates are open, this could have ended up very seriously. I know a guy who lost a kidney and was lucky to be alive after a bull attackd so its so important to be aware of your surroundings even if you are distracted by some amazing stones.

Sites within 20km of Ardristan