What is recorded here

Gallaun is a pair of standing stones on a terrace at the head of a small valley in County Cork, Ireland. One stone is tall and thin, the other short and broken at the top, yet they face each other across a narrow gap as if still completing a sentence. The place may have marked a boundary, a meeting point or a warning, but human life has withdrawn from it. What remains is two stones holding a line in empty ground.

On terrace at head of small valley. Stones, aligned ENE-WSW, stand 1.5m apart; overall length 3.4m. NE stone is 1.25m L, 0.2m T and 0.3m H; its top appears to have been broken off. SW stone is 0.7m L, 0.3m T and 3.15m H. 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

Likely dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, the Gallaun, Cullenagh standing stones may have functioned as a ritual or ceremonial alignment, possibly marking a significant landscape feature or serving as an astronomical indicator. No specific folklore or detailed local tradition is recorded for this site.

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