CianMcLiam

The guard chamber in the entrance passageway

An interesting rock art panel that was found face down nearby, was once set overlooking the bay and then moved recently up against the entrance to the fort. It’s usually referred to as a cup-marked stone but as you can see it has rings near one corner, one of the cupmarks has a single wide pennanular ring that terminates in matching cup marks at each end.
This panel is comparable in style and execution with the panel from Gortbrack (now in UCC).

Cairn N behind this outlying standing stone, possibly from a tomb.

Ballinkillin Rock Art, Co. Carlow.

Originally found in a nearby field, the stone now forms part of a roadside wall near the entrance of a house, making it one of the most accessible pieces of rock art in the country! Four flashes used in this, can you spot them all?

Life as a piece of rock art

Gortbrack Rock Art, now situated in the ‘Stone Corridor’ at University College Cork.

Mothel Rock Art, now situated in the ‘Stone Corridor’ at University College Cork

A long shot, the background isn’t really that close.

Snow and some freezing fog, especially atmospheric in the late evening sun

Sunset over the axial stone, 03/01/10

Boleycarrigeen Stone Circle at sunset 03/01/10, probably indicating sunset at winter solstice from what I saw this afternoon and as can be seen in the photo. This hasn’t been previously recorded as far as I can tell from the usual sources but myself and Tom Fourwinds thought we could see a spot of sunlight through the plantation that used to engulf the circle until early this year.

Boleycarrigeen Stone Circle at sunset 03/01/10, probably indicating sunset at winter solstice from what I saw this afternoon and as can be seen in the photo. This hasn’t been previously recorded as far as I can tell from the usual sources but myself and Tom Fourwinds thought we could see a spot of sunlight through the plantation that used to engulf the circle until early this year.

See fieldnotes for more info.

Martin Brennan at Newgrange, explaining how he had a revelation while examining the dividing line on both of the opposing kerbstones, K1 and K52 (pictured)

A different lighting scheme to bring out the groove that runs around the edge of the stone better.

See fieldnotes and caption of next photo for details of this stone.

This stone is now sitting on a table covered in a slightly unpleasant shade of green cloth (faded snooker table like) but the staff kindly allowed me to move it on to the flagstones and use a couple of boxes to simulate the light from an open doorway using a couple of flashes.

The timber circle outside the east passage

Site 1 behind tombs 13 (right) and 14 (left) lit by the nearly full moon.

Kerbstone Art and Moon
30th Nov. 2009

View of the chamber of Satellite 16 from the passage, just past the bend created when the main mound encroached on the original passage entrance. The corbelling over the chamber orthostats has been restored.


(note: the drawing for this site in Eogan’s 1986 book ‘Knowth and the Passage Tombs of Ireland’ has an incorrect drawing of this chamber, the passage is correct but the sides of the chamber are reversed.)

Knowth Tomb 13 passage, looking out from the rear of the undifferentiated chamber.

Carvings on the top surface of the capstones of the west passage of the main tomb look as fresh as if they were just carved yesterday, despite Eogan’s credible speculation that these were reused orthostats from an earlier tomb.

Waxing moon rising

One of those odd south-west panels with lines and grids featruing a sparse number of cup and rings.

Looking in a south-easterly direction down the valley (Lough Brin is not visible from here due to the hillside sloping up to the left) towards the Beara Peninsula.

A pair of carved panels high on the hillside, the nearest has it’s full face completely covered in cup and rings while the one further away has two simple cup and single ring motifs.

The sun sets directly on top of the mountain, 18th April 2009.

Looking into the fantastically well preserved gallery complete with corbelled walling and massive roofstones.

One of the handful of standing stones in the salt marsh with Croagh Patrick in the background.

The view south west over the entrance towards the Poulaphuca Reservoir

Looking down the passage from the entrance, with added flashes of course.

Ta Hagrat facade as the sun went down

The heavily eroded spiral like motifs can just be made out here, they are much more obvious on the full size image.

A very challenging place to photograph, this is the remains of the paved interior and orthostats that face a side chamber of the main temple structure