Cupmarked stone in Castlemehigan

On rising ground above small lake. Boulder (H 0.5m; L 2.85m; Wth 2m) with twenty cupmarks (max. diam. 0.22m). Finlay (1973, 99) records a further six shallow cupmarks and a dump-bell motif. The boulder has a medial crack. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 Images provided by and copyright of Amanda Clarke 2016-2022 https://holywellscorkandkerry.com/

Probably Neolithic or Bronze Age; the cupmarks and dump-bell motif may relate to ritual or symbolic practices, possibly connected to water or fertility. The medial crack might have been considered significant in local prehistoric belief systems.