What is recorded here

Gallaun is a vanished standing stone in County Cork, erased because cattle used the stones as scratching-posts and spread infection. The Board of Agriculture ordered every last one removed from Crinaloo lands, leaving no trace but memory. What looked like ancient monument may have been ordinary farm furniture, killed by pragmatism rather than forgotten by time.

Not marked on 1842 OS 6-inch map; marked 'Gallaun' on 1904 map. In pasture, on SW-facing slope c. 70m to S of ringfort (8224). No visible surface trace. Macalister (1945, 128-9) was informed locally that all stones 'on the lands of Crinaloo had been removed by a decree of the Board of Agriculture to avoid the risk of infection passing between cattle using them as scratching-posts'. He was also told (ibid.) that they had all been erected 'in recent years' to serve as scratching-posts with the exception of the ogham stone (7992) in the ringfort (8224). 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 Gallaun standing stone may have had ritual or territorial significance. Local tradition, as noted by Macalister, suggests the stones were part of a wider landscape of prehistoric monuments, possibly linked to the nearby ringfort.

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