ryaner

Unvisited and somewhat unloved, until we arrived.

Th Long Stone in Longstone, Armagh City.

“It stands 1.7m high, leaning slightly to the SE and is of the so called ‘Armagh marble’.”

I was impressed with Haughey’s Fort for the short time I spent here – mystery provoked by imagination.

The centre of the the enclosure rises towards the south (there’s not much to see here but excavations say it was a multi-period, prehistoric habitation site).

Two-and-a-half metre tall bank on the northern arc of the pond.

The mysterious, man-made pond at the King’s Stables.

Bronze interpretation on the way from the interpretive centre to the site. I don’t know who the artist is but I like it.

The main mound from the north.

North-west arc of the main mound.

The main mound, with chanting enchantress in red.

Hadn’t got enough time to try and figure this out, but from the looks of it you could have hours here and still be none the wiser.

From this angle you can see why stone row instead of possible megalithic tomb.

The phallic standing stone.

Some of this is outcrop, some of it looks just dumped here. The SMR says it’s a possible megalithic tomb. I preferred stone row. We’re both probably wrong.

From the road.

Looking back east towards the henge.

If it’s a standing stone, it ain’t standing no more.

You could while away an afternoon here, drinking in the atmosphere.

The stones seem to be generally ignored and are safe as a result.

The tomb at the centre of the henge is pretty cool in its own right.

I like the way that you can only just about make out the people in the henge it’s that vast.

Face theories welcome.

Ballynoe is the best!

Over the south-facing passage with Gullion and its ring to the west in south Armagh.

Classic Clermont view over the top of the cairn – down the Cooley peninsula to the right and over to the Mournes to the left, split by Carlingford Lough.

Approaching from the north-west. The mound is quite substantial.

I like the way the padstones tilt the roofstone to the horizontal.

Looking out between the entrance jambstones. The construction is quite complex.

This is a well-known site east of Belfast – you’d think it might be better looked after.

An attempt to show the chamber.

Almost swallowed by the gorse now.

Unusually shaped stone with relatively small and shallow bullaun.

Small earthfast bullaun in Rushin graveyard ouside Belcoo.

West over the largest roofstone.

Though messy, much of the tomb remains – this is the view north.

Looking west at the overgrown rear of the tomb – outer wall stone on the southern side is collapsing outward.

Most of the tomb is intact with almost all of the gallery still roofed.

Large (nearest and tallest 1.75 metres) outer walling on the northern side.

Outer-walling on the south side of the tomb is collapsing outwards.

Largely filled-in portico at the west-south-west.

Looking south over the remains towards the mountains of North Leitrim.

Looking north.

Once thought to be a stone circle, these are probably the remains of a wedge tomb.

Ruined but still retaining some dignity.

Looking north.

The front of the lesser of the two neighbouring wedge tombs.

The first of the monuments you meet along the track in Killy Beg townland. They’re said to be the remains of a megalithic tomb and marked on some maps as standing stones. The two fine wedge tombs are to the right out of shot.

Across the ante-chamber of this superbly constructed wedge tomb.

Septal stone and ante-chamber/portico. I was pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the monument.