What is recorded here

One stone still stands on the flat pasture north of the Shournagh River basin, but local memory holds that seven once crowded the field before storms and centuries thinned the rank. The lost partner fell on Christmas Eve 1966, joining larger buried shapes in the boggy soil. Galláin is not a complete pair anymore; it is a remainder, waiting for the missing stones to be remembered or dug from the dark earth.

On flat patch of ground, in rolling pasture, on N side of Shournagh River basin. One stone remains, long axis NE-SW; it is 2.2m L, 0.65m T and 3m H; second stone, standing in 1934, stood c. 2.6m to SW (O Nualláin 1988, 245, no. 99). According to local information, second stone fell during storm on Christmas Eve 1966. Twelve stones found in 'immediate locality' of stone pair, 'some much larger, lying on the ground partly buried in the boggy soil of the place' (Caulfield 1866, 293). Local tradition that there were at least 7 stones in this field. 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 Bronze Age, the standing stone may have served as a territorial marker or ritual monument. Local folklore sometimes associates such stones with early Christian hermitages or fairy legends, though specific traditions for this site are not recorded.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.