Stone Circles and Rock Art

Stones Circles, Standing Stones, Alignments, Rock Art…

Stone Circles
•There are various types of stone circle in Ireland:
–Great Circles
–Embanked Circles
–Northern-type(s)
–Multiple Stone Circles
–Recumbent Stone Circles
–Stone Circles with Boulder burials
–Five Posters
–Four Posters
Stone Circles - Terminology
Great Circles: Newgrange, Co. Meath
•The Great Circle at Newgrange
Newgrange – The Great Circle
Newgrange – The Great Circle
•There are 12 surviving standing stones around the mound of Newgrange out of a possible original 35 to 38 orthostats.
•The Great Circle has an average diameter of 103.6m (340 ft), which is larger than the diameter of Stonehenge, the outer bank of which is 97.5m (320 ft).
•The stones consist of greywacke, which is a type of sandstone, as well as limestone, granite and other igneous rocks and stand at a height of approximately 2 metres each
Newgrange, Co. Meath
•Stones in front of the tomb’s entrance.
Embanked Circles - Beltany, Co. Donegal
•Stones stand on a raised bank.
Embanked Circles - Beltany, Co. Donegal
•The ring is 44.2m (145ft) in diameter and still contains 64 stones, though originally there were eighty or more
Embanked Circles - Beltany, Co. Donegal
•Note the entrance in the top slide (bottom left of the circle).
•This is also visible in the bottom photo.
Embanked Stone Circle:Athgreaney, The Pipers Stones, Co. Wicklow
Embanked Stone Circle:Castleruddery, Co. Wicklow
These ‘embanked’ stone circles are very similar to henge monuments and appear to be of the same sort of date (i.e. Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age).
Embanked Stone Circle:Grange, Co. Limerick
•Excavated in the 1940s.
•Appears to date to the Bronze Age
Embanked Stone Circle:Grange, Co. Limerick
•Embanked stone circles show many of the symmetrical features of henge monuments.
Ballynahatty, Co. Down (Henge)
Northern Type(s)
•While a lot of stone circles are known from the northern half of Ireland – the various types have not been properly studied.
•There are a number of early circles which may be embanked circles (other than Beltany)
•The remainder are best described individually!
Similar to Breton circles called Fer-aux-chevaux
Stonehenge – Bluestone phase
Ballynoe, Co. Down
Ballynoe, Co. Down
Copney, Co. Tyrone
Copney: Circle A
Beaghmore: Site B
Along alignment towards B
Beaghmore: Site D
Beaghmore: Site E
Drumskinny, Co. Fermanagh
Four-Poster: Mullaghmore, Co. Down
•Four-Poster Circle
•Excavation produced traces of a cremation in a bucket-shaped pot.
Four-Poster: Mullaghmore, Co. Down
•Mullaghmore as excavated: M marks the spot where the bones of an adult male cremation were recovered, C is where the similar remains of a child were recovered.
Ring ditch 2 burial
•Oval in plan 6 by 5m
•Central burial used twice
•First burial a small cist, contained remains of an adult male 35 years+
•The second burial an adult 35 years +
•Capstone recovered from ditch
•No associated funerary vessel
•Four post holes surrounding central burial
•Dated Cal BC 1380-920
A Four-Poster in a barrow at Loughbrickland, Co. Down
Multiple Stone Circles: Drombeg, Co. Cork
Bohonagh, Co. Cork – Boulder Burial
•Boulder Burial located close to the Stone Circle
Bawngare, Co. Cork
•Boulder burial. Similar to an out of proportion portal tomb.
Kenmare, Stone Circle and Boulder Burial
Five Stone Circle: Oughtihery/Keel Cross, Co. Cork
•Has same symmetry as recumbent and multiple stone circles.
Five Stone Circles
Kealkil, Co. CorkFive Poster with Stone Row in background
Stone Circles: Dating Evidence
•The different types of circle appear to be of different dates.
•The Great Circle at Newgrange and the embanked circles seem to date to around 3000-2000 BC
•Many of the Northern types appear to date to 2000-1500 BC
•The Four-Poster and many of the types from Cork and Kerry date to the Late Bronze Age (1200-800 BC)
Maughanasilly, Co. Cork: Stone Row
Standing Stones: The Rocking Stone, Carrowkeel (Sligo)
Standing Stones:The Longstone, Co. Armagh
Standing Stone:Rathiddy, Co. Louth
Rock Art:Reyfad, Co. Fermanagh
Rock Art: Mullagharoy, Co. Meath
Rock Art:The Witches Stone, Oldbridge, Co. Wicklow
Rock Art:Clearagh, Co. Cork
Kealduff Upper, Co. Kerry
Stone with rock art from pit in the interior ofHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
•Private and public art
Turoe Stone, Co. Galway
Killycluggin, Co. Cavan
Boa Island, Co. Fermanagh