Mass-rock in Ballymihil — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

On a SW-facing slope above Ballymihil, a fallen wedge-tomb capstone still bears a small incised cross and a stack of stones that once held an upright slab shaped like a rude human figure. The view stretches west from Poulawack to Cappanawalla through old field lines, giving the place the feel of a boundary marker rather than a hidden relic. People may have gathered there to pray, remember or simply watch the sky change, reusing an older tomb as a Mass-rock. The upright slab is gone now, but the cross and stone stack remain, holding the slope’s long human attention in a few inches of carved rock.

In elevated rocky pasture on a SW-facing slope with clear views to the W from Poulawack to Cappanawalla and within an extensive multiperiod field system (CL005-160001-). De Valera and Ó Nualláin (1961, 13) noted a small cross on the fallen capstone of a wedge tomb (CL005-160016-). Westropp (1899, 373) and de Valera and Ó Nualláin (1961, 13) noted the presence of a small stack of stones on the top of the capstone holding an upright slab shaped like a ‘round-headed cross’ or ‘a rude human figure’. On inspection in 1998 the stack of stones remained, but the upright slab did not survive. The small cross was noted as incised within a small hollow (L 0.15m; Wth 0.07m) in the centre of the capstone. This monument may have been reused as a Mass-rock. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Eve Campbell Date of upload: 29 September 2025

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