stone circles ireland

Arrestingly sited on a ridge where it commands the attention of travellers on the road south-east of Waterville, this is one of the more accessible alignments in a county which affords several fine examples.

Its four monumental stones, up to 10 feet in height, extend east to west for 30 feet. This appears to have been part of a more complex structure. There are traces of an enclosure, or possibly the base of a cairn, on the south side, as well as what looks like remnants of a megali...

Beautifully situated overlooking Broad Haven, this stone circle consists of an outer ring of 33 stones with a diameter of 54 feet and an inner ring of 16 stones with a diameter of about 30 feet. One part of the circle may have been adapted or other uses later....

A large axial-stone circle, recently restored, standing on a breezy hill-top within a mile of the coast. Of its original thirteen stones nine remain; three of these were re-erected during excavation of the site in 1959.

The diameter of the ring is slightly less than 30 feet and the axis runs east to west through the radially set portal stones to the 'recumbent' or axial stone, resulting in an approximate alignment on the equinoctial sunset.
Several of the orthostats on the east sid...

A hauntingly esoteric site on a wooded hill in Furness estate, 3 miles east-north-east of Naas and 1 mile south-east of Johnstown. Though usually described as a rath, this is more properly interpreted as a ritual enclosure in the henge tradition. It consists of a circular earthwork nearly 200 feet in diameter, on top of and inside which are a number of mature hawthorn and ash trees. The bank, up to 9 feet high and cut by gaps on the east and west, is encircled by a fosse dug to a depth of 5 f...

The name of this solitary hill 2 miles south of Raphoe recalls the Celtic springtime festival of Beltane (the ancient equivalent of May Day), traditionally associated with the lighting of hill-top fires to regenerate the sun. The wreckage of great stones on this well chosen site belongs to an earlier period than the Celtic Iron Age. As it stands, it poses problems of classification. Part stone circle, part mound, it has suffered at the hands of despoilers and must look very different fro...

This is the best of a number of stone circles in Co. Cork. There are 17 standing stones, the westernmost one of which lies flat.
A cremated body was found in the centre of the circle when it was excavated. The circle is dated to somewhere between 153 B.C. and A.D. 127. Sixty yards to the west of the stone circle are two round huts joined together.

The eastern part of the east hut contained a roasting oven. A stone causeway led from the juts to a cooking-place containing a heart...

A much mutilated but nonetheless impressive monument - one of only two stone circles recorded from Co. Donegal - situated on bleak Mass hill in the townland of Glack-Na-Drumman, a little over a mile from Culdaff village. Its ruinous state is largely the result of land clearance in the nineteenth century, when a number of its stones were overthrown and buried on the site. Either the operation proved unexpectedly troublesome, or superstition gained the upper hand, for the work was abandoned, lea...

The notion that people could be turned into stone in punishment for some misdemeanour or other is a recurring theme in Gaelic folklore, and here at Athgreany in the stillness of the Wicklow hills is a strange troupe of dancers and a piper, all ossified on the spot for violating the Sabbath with their merrymaking. The circle stands on the crest of a low hill and consists of fourteen granite boulders and an outlier (representing the luckless piper) 40 yards to the north-east. The tallest ci...

Stone Circle: A stone circle, 100 feet in diameter, with an interior and exterior facing of stones with a bank in between. Some very large boulders are used in this circle, and some are lying down.
Motte: A motte surrounded by a ditch which is rounded at the southern side but squared at the north. Further to the south is a raised area, which may also have been used like a bailey for defensive purposes....

A fine stone circle on a hill-top with a commanding view. It is still composed of 60 stones, though originally there were many more. There is one stone standing outside the circle....