What is recorded here

Gallán is a 1.9m standing stone in Mid Cork, leaning slightly on a north-west slope beside two ancient cooking pits. Its base still holds packing stones, suggesting people set it upright rather than leaving it to chance. The nearby pits hint at feasts or journeys, while the stone itself may have marked a boundary, a memorial or a meeting place. Whatever it recorded, it has watched the pasture change for centuries.

Not shown on 1842 OS 6-inch map. In pasture on NW-facing slope. Stone (H 1.9m; 0.95m x 1.3m) is subrectangular in plan, long axis ENE-WSW. Packing stones exposed at base. Two fulachta fiadh (7138 and 7139) 10m to W and c. 40m to S respectively. Standing stone (6620) in field to W. 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

Probably dating to the Bronze Age, the stone may have had a ritual or territorial function, possibly associated with the nearby fulachta fiadh used for cooking or ceremonial purposes. Local folklore may not be recorded, but such stones often feature in traditions of ancestor veneration or boundary marking.

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