What is recorded here

Barrahaurin ringfort in County Cork still holds a small twelve-by-seven-inch stone across its entrance gap, marked by two shallow cups. That is all the facts preserve, yet the shape suggests a threshold where someone set a drink, a tool or a reminder before leaving. The fort may have raged, starved or celebrated, but this little stone survived to mark the way in.

At entrance to ringfort (CO050-053001-). 'Lying on top of the stone gap (entrance) is a stone 12ins x 7ins with two cupmarks in it' (Hartnett 1939, 177). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the cupmarked stone may have had ritual or symbolic significance, possibly related to the entrance function of the ringfort. Cupmarks are often associated with ceremonial practices or astronomical alignments in prehistoric contexts.

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