doagh

Rising picturesquely above a gorse-grown rocky outcrop, on the crest of a hill commanding a broad sweep of countryside, this shapely 'hole stone' is a good example of its type and a familiar landmark in the locality. Typical of places where the dumping of refuse is specifically prohibited, the immediate area abounds in unsightly litter. A tapered dolerite slab about 5 feet high and 21/2 feet wide at the base, it is pierced with a circular hole 3 inches in diameter, neatly cut, with smooth rounded edges on both sides. In the past betrothed couples joined hands through this aperture as a pledge of fidelity, a custom recorded in the Dublin Penny Journal in 1832, which also has a woodcut depicting the monolith. This kind of monument is impossible to date, since like the far more numerous unperforated standing stones, they cannot be attributed to a particular period or culture. That they figured in local customs within living memory does not necessarily signify a lingering on of a prehistoric cult; though it is possible that some recently extinct folk traditions preserved elements derived from ritual practices of great antiquity.