What is recorded here

Gallán is a one-metre standing stone in open Cork pasture, visible in every direction and absent from the 1842 survey map. It may be one of four stones Bowman wrote about on R. Sheehan's land, the largest marked there at nearly twelve feet around. That much bigger shape suggests Gallán was not a small boundary marker but a place people returned to, watched from, or argued about under a wide sky.

Not marked on 1842 OS 6-inch map. In pasture, with commanding view in all directions. Stone (H 1m; 1.4m x 0.75m) is rectangular in plan and irregular in shape, long axis NE-SW. Probably one of 4 standing stones (10076, 10077, 10078) recorded by Bowman (1934, 480) on R. Sheehan's land; possibly stone (d), '3ft 9in by 11ft 11in girth'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). 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 stone may have functioned as a territorial marker or ritual monument. Local folklore sometimes associates such stones with early Christian saints or mythical figures, though no specific tradition is recorded for this site.

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