What is recorded here

Five metres of grey sandstone stand at the forestry edge, carrying five faint marks that have watched the Kealduff River for millennia. Three cups wear rings like tiny planets, while two bare cups sit beside them, waiting to be read. The stone is so large it defies easy handling, yet someone marked its flat top with deliberate care. That much size and such small design create a strange tension, as if human life once measured itself against the patience of rock.

The decorated upper surface of this prominent tabular rock, 1.65m high, measures 5.4m x 3.9m. The motifs are severely weathered, but appear to comprise three cup-and-rings and two simple cupmarks (Anati 1963, 10, No. 15; Finlay 1973, 89). The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 313. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 28 July 2013 At edge of young forestry plantation, on an E-facing slope (101m OD). Situated c. 6m from northern fenceline with trees encroaching to E and W. Kealduff River close to NE. Very rough and fractured, megalithic sandstone boulder (dims. 3.9m N-S; 5.2m E-W; H 2.0m) with a sub-rectangular decorated surface (dims. 0.70m N-S; 0.43m E-W). This is a glacial erratic and the rock art is located upon its flat, table-top surface. The motifs are very faint and appear to be confined to the SW area consisting of: two cupmarks (diam. 4-5cm; D 2-4mm); three complete cup-and-one ring (total diam. c. 13.5cm) each having a cupmark (diam. 3cm; D 3mm) and ring (Wth 8mm; D 2mm). One of these may have a second ring, although this is very faint. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 8 March 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, this rock art may have held ritual or symbolic significance, possibly related to water sources or territorial markers. Cup-and-ring motifs are commonly associated with prehistoric ceremonial landscapes in Atlantic Europe.

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