stones historical ireland

A 9ft high pillar stone with crosses on two faces in suitably named Giantsgrave off the N24. Signposted....

A squared pillarstone of monumental appearance, 7 feet high and 3 feet wide. its south-eastern face is decorated with a profusion of cup-marks, many with single and multiple surrounding rings, a characteristic motif of the Galician or rock art of the Bronze Age. The stone is in a field behind a farmhouse, 1 mile north-north-east of Muff, to the west of the coast road to Carrowkeel and Moville....

A great standing stone making the site on an ancient mound, which tradition states marks the site of a 'Giants Grave'. The stone itself contains the remains of an Ogham inscription, which has been translated a 'Branogeni'....

St Vauk or Beoc's Stone, a huge boulder on which the Saint is said to have floated across the Irish Sea in the 6th century....

A standing stone 7 feet high. On the west face is a cross with a V-shaped ornament beneath it, and on the east face is a cross and four concentric circles. These last have been thought to belong to the art of the megalithic tombs; the stone however probably belongs to the Early Christian period....

Though ignored by some guide books, this is a very fine megalith which unfortunately loses much of its impressiveness on account of the roadside hedge which threatens to envelop it. It has long been neglected and abused; a photograph taken in 1914 shows it defaced with auctioneers; posters; latterly it has become a target for religious graffiti. The bulky granite capstone is 8 feet long and up to 5 feet thick and rests, somewhat precariously it would appear, on four of the six basalt uprig...

A large flat stone, now leaning though originally upright, with a hole 6 inches wide at one end. It may have been a so-called 'port-hole' stone which closed the chamber of a megalithic tomb. However, the traditional explanation - as usual, much more romantic and appealing - is that it was a stone used at the dawn of history by Niall of the Nine Hostages to tie up Eochaidh, son of Enna Eochaidh broke the chain and took his revenge by killing the nine men whom Niall had sent to kill him. Up til...

Majestically towering over the Laois countryside is the Rock of Dunamaise - the remains of a celtic fortification. This is one of Ireland's most famous landmarks and has a long and diverse history attached to it. Aoife, daughter of the King of Leinster received it as a part of her dowry on her marriage to Strongbow. The fort was also part of the O'Moore territory. It is a gathering point for the O'Lalor Clan Rally which takes place in October....

The Goles Alignment is a group of 11 standing stones that run exactly North-South....

Cloughmore, a 30-ton Granite boulder lies on the Mountain Ridge approximately 1000 feet above Rostrevor village. Geolgists describe Cloughmore as a spectacular deposit from the Ice Age, but local folklore has much more colourful story that relates to Finn McCool (the legendary Irish Giant). The giant got into a fight with his archrival Ruscaire , another giant, and they threw bolders at each other. This is how Cloughmore arrived at this spot....