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This is a small (partial?) panel, a cup with four rings on sandstone, built into the ornamental arch that gives the ruined mansion of Arch Hall it's name. There are one or two other lines that may indicate some more designs were part of the original composition.
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Located this panel safe and sound after some helpful guidance. It had been buried under a pile of small rocks and was a little muddy. After cleaning it by pouring lots and lots of water over it, the full designs became easy to see.
This is a very nice example, both cup and rings are kind of egg shaped and one has a gutter that runs uphill, the other has a large and deep natural hollow that was incorporated into the outer rings of the other design. An odd little panel.
I covered it back up as found, putting some sods of grass and mud on the designs to ensure I didn't damage them when I placed the rocks back over the panel. Great to see the panel is safe and sound, hope it stays that way.
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This wonderful bit of rock art was found buried in a field that had been ploughed many times, the bottom edge of the remaining stone is heavily scarred with plough marks.
Apparently it had become a bit of a nuisance so it was dug up in the early 1970's and much to their surprise these wonderful carvings came to light. The owner of the land at that time was a Mr. Synnott who was also a member of the local archaeological society, he immediately recognised this was an important find and it was moved to the gable end of the medieval church where it still rests. It was described and illustrated by Elizabeth Shee Twohig in 1975 or 1976 in the Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society Vol. 15 No. 5.
JKAS 1975-76.
The top part of the stone seems to have been shattered off as there is half a circular motif filled with small cup marks. The other markings bear resemblance to the Kilwarden stone also found in Kildare but now located in the National Museum in Dublin.
Access to this stone is only by prior arrangement with Furness house. http://www.furness-house.com/index.htm
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This is a monster of a boulder, propped up on limestone pedestals and partly embedded in the hillside. Was it a burial chamber? Hard to tell, it certainly does just look like a larger version of the many similar sandstone boulder on pedestals seen around the park.
The cup and rings do look pretty convincing from some angles, this is quite a soft stone so perhaps they are just very badly weathered. There definitely is a pair of cup and rings on a small boulder further up the path from the track, even in the unfavourable sunlight and bleached texture of the stone, some carving work was noticeable.
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The Archaeological Survey of Co. Louth has a nice photo of some rock art here but I dont think I found the panel that was illustrated. The large outcropping here has been partly bulldozed in the not too distant past, hopefully the best of the rock art did not dissapear with it.
I did manage to find a single cup and ring at the western end of the outcrop, with some possible cup marks beside which are somewhat dubious. The outcrop is very overgrown so there could be lots more underneath.
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Incorrectly marked on the other side of the road (or maybe there is another panel there which I failed to locate), this large stone sits in a field beside a large B&B ('The Milestone') and can be seen from the road and the large standing stone that now sits in the garden of the B&B.
It has been suggested that the stone once stood upright and on first sight it does look like a fallen menhir. Another smaller stone lies a few paces away so it may have made a two-stone row, another possibility is the other large standing stones close by all formed part of a longer stone row that would have been very impressive.
The stone is arrow shaped and most of the markings are near the broad end with just a single cup and ring near the point. The stone is about 4-5m in length, 2m wide and 1.5m high as it presently sits.
If the carvings were done while or before the stone stood, the radiating grooves and gutters (parrallel with each other) would have run across rather than up or down the stone which seems 'wrong'. As the stone now sits, they run down the sloping surface from the cup and rings which are mostly along the top ridge and part of the way down the slope.
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Some boisterous bullocks prevented me getting further than the gate but the stones are wonderfully skylined from the crossroads.
A headstone commemorates three friars killed by Cromwellian soldiers in 1651 near this spot, the stones were regularly whitewashed like many stones but perhaps with more resonance here.
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This is a fantastic example of a Burren type wedge tomb, it also has quite easy access from the nearby road.
You cross a number of small ruinous field walls but the last of these is in fact the remainder of a ring fort according to the small booklet 'A Burren Journey', available locally.
To the south east of the tomb, just a few yards, is what looks like a small cairn about the same size as those found at Beaghmore, to the south west, adjoining the ruined ring walls, is a circular room or hut foundation with a hearth.
The tomb itself is quite roomy with rubble scattered on the floor, there is some kind of entrance arrangement with some large stones which once formed a facade with a possible entrance fromt he side of the court, alá West Kennet Longbarrow in its present state.
Got some beautiful flashes of glorious sunshine through the heavy clouds here today but the strong winds blew over my tripod with two flash units on, breaking both :(
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The 'Hag of Beara' is well signposted on the coast road between Ardgroom and Eyeries, there's a bit of hard shoulder on the corner where you can park.
The rock is through the gate and across about 20m of marshy ground to a small track, you could walk right past it like I did if you dont spot all the offerings strewn over it!
The rock itself is wonderfully weathered and resembles a camel with no legs or neck. There's great views seawards and across the bay.
It also features the wierdest assortment of 'offerings' I have ever come across, car remote controls, batteries, hair scrunchies and a mobile phone belt clip all share crevices with the more usual coins, 'goddess' figurine, seashells and berries.
For a split second I thought the hag was having fun with me, I was trying to set a manual exposure on the camera but no matter what I tried, even turning the camera off and removing batteries, I could not set an aperture below F8 even though it was an F4 lens, what the hell???!! Of course there was a simple explanation, I had left the camera in 'bracketing' mode at Drombohilly but had not taken the last picture of the bracketing sequence there! For just a moment.............
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Visited on 28/4/07. Found 5 panels in total though I believe there are a couple of dozen more at least. The fields with all the outcrops are divided up and there were lambs in the largest so I didn't venture in there.
If you are planning on visiting, please make it your business to ask first as the landowners are fed up with people wandering in. They have also put up a 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' sign. It was also the first time I've been asked about insurance but luckily I had my photographers insurance cert with me.
Apart from the three obvious panels on the high outcrop with bushes on it, I found two other panels, one had a cup and two half rings and what looked very like a scaled down ormaig-alike rosette. The other had a single cup with two rings. I'd love to see a plan of the panels so I could see which ones I missed. If someone had told me I would one day spend a Saturday night literally standing in a field staring at outcrops maybe I would have specialised in photographing bar stool designs manufactured from 1998 to 2005.
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Found this while trying to compose a straight landscape shot after giving up on finding any rock art in the area. Lined up two upright stones and this to get a shot of some weak sun breaking through in the gap on the horizon when I caught a glimpse of one cup and ring from the corner of my eye! There's definitely two cups with single rings and some possible stuff beside them but very dubious. In the vicinity of one 'rock art' dot in the OS map.
I'm naming it panel D since it was the fourth I found today, will try and locate proper details.
My GPS reading for this panel: V76615 77599
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This is one superbly located wedge tomb, amazing views in all directions around Dingle Bay, across to the Iveragh Peninsula and over the fields and beaches far below. From the pictures it looks like the tomb is still covered in most of its cairn, there is a fair amount of cairn still here but the 'entrance' is really a gap where a side stone has been removed and the true front has been blocked up with dry walling which also makes up most of what looks like the cairn. It makes a great shelter, probably has been used by shepherds and travellers for thousands of years.
It's hard to be sure but it seems there are three massive capstones in place, the structure is complete from inside except for the missing sidestone. It once formed part of a field wall and there doesn't seem to be any double walling present. Overall a fine but modified monument.
To get here follow signs for 'Arkil' (the quarry?) from the main road through Lispole, go past the quarry and masts, back down the hill a bit on the left is a track with a wide entrance with room to park a car or two. The map shows the track winds around and back up to the tomb from the south, a much better approach is to leave the track at the first sharp bend, over the gate to the right. From here, climb to the top of the hill to the south west, the tomb is on the summit.
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Passing by through Killarney on my way home I thought I would pop by and see if it was possible to visit the circle. The farmer was walking up the lane so I was delighted to be given permission to go and see it.
My, my, my oh my... The area around the circle looks like its in the middle of a nuclear winter again, not a blade of grass left standing. Most of the tree cover around about half the henge has been cut down and thinned out, one tree has fallen directly onto one of the stones of the circle (though this may have been due to the storms) and to top it all off a large orange fibreglass 'roof' of something has been dumped inside the enclosure. I doubt things have ever been worse for this little circle. With some creativity I was able to get some nice shots of it, also some of the general state of the site.
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Driving through the hills north of Kealkill, you could forget that your on the way to visit one fo the few excavated and restored stone rows in the south west, the scenery is incredible. Just as you pass a peacefull little lake in a natural amphitheatre you come to a small cross roads. Maughanasilly stone row is on the hillock to the right, overlooking the lake. The name mey be ridiculous but this is a seriously wonderful place. A small space just outside the gate is handy for parking and the site has a little, informative sign just inside the swinging gate. Visitors are welcome here and the site is very easy to access, though not for the disabled.
I arrived here just as the sun was re-appearing for a few minutes of glorious colour before sinking below the horizon, there are wide views across wild mountains to the north and west but no view to the east. To me, it looked like this row is very closely aligned to the sunset at midwinter, the sign suggests a lunar alignment.
The stones that remain standing are all similar but look bizarrely mismatched or arranged, they are all quite small, none above 1.5m. One lies prostrate on the south side but there doesn't seem to be a gap for its socket, as if it had missed out on megalithic musical chairs.This post appears as part of the blog post " West Coast: Cooler." |
I forgot to print off the directions below and made a complete yak of getting to the stones. I parked in a driveway and knocked on the door, there was noise inside but no-one answered. This is getting more common in the depths of rural Ireland. Anyway, I walked up a lane and then along the side of a small stream into another field. I then crossed a hedge and up in the corner I had to scale a wall at an open gate. At first glance over, there seemed to be no way in or out of the field but once you are near the stones you realise there are a few gaps on the southern hedge.
The stones themselves? Wonderful! One massive, bulky hulk and two skinnier but still quite large accomplices. Like the big boss man and his two cronies. The setting is again spectacular, this is stunning countryside. The stones dont seem to have ever formed a rectangle, it must have been quite askew when complete (if there was a fourth stone) in much the same was as the comparable, but slightly less dramatic, arrangement at Lettergorman.
The weather continues to oscillate though many dramatic shifts, it rained quite a bit which meant constant wiping of the lens for the brief burst of sunshine that produced a magnificent rainbow.This post appears as part of the blog post " West Coast: Cooler." |
As you drive up the road thats nearest to Dunbeacon stone circle, you see a brown information sign with 'Standing Stones' on it, pointing to this field. The driveway also has a 'Parking' sign there too! This is a nice pair of tall stones pointing (almost) at the stone circle on the hill opposite. They were felled but re-erected in the past so may not exactly align with their original axis. A large new house has been built just above them, perhaps this was the site of the church mentioned in TME? Access is very easy with a short walk up a driveway and then through a specially installed gate.This post appears as part of the blog post " West Coast: Cooler." |
I've wanted to visit this row since I saw RedBrickDream's photos here a year ago or more. The setting and the arrangement is just superlative, hats off to whoever chose this spot and picked the stones, they really had a very good eye.
The row is peculiar, in a funny kind of way it reminds me of those cartoons you see of the mother duck leading the ugly ducklings across the road. Its a little overgrown now since the older photos, whatever lived in this field must have ate that typical rush-like grass. The sheep that live here now sure dont. Someone also left one of those horrible large black plastic sheets that they cover bales with, lumped between the last, smallest stone and the second last. I tried removing it but that, and the massive digger a hundred yards away took away a little of the magic of the visit, just a little bit.
As in the other fieldnotes, this is a bugger to get to, the driveway past the old farmhouse is now a swimming pool and all the fields are serioulsy boggy. Bring wellies when you come, but do come.This post appears as part of the blog post " West Coast: Cooler." |
This tomb is quite cute, its just sat there like an old farmer leaning against the wall watching the world and their cattle go by.
The capstone is very odd, as pointed out by Fourwinds a gleaming white 'eye' oggles you as you approach, you do indeed feel watched. It is very easily spotted from the road but the local roads are maze-like, if you've got a good map or a gps this is an easy, pleasant site to visit. Shame I got thoroughly rained on before I got my fill of photos.This post appears as part of the blog post " The Seven Spiritual Laws of Stone Hunting" |
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