What is recorded here

Half a metre of sandstone rises from the bog at Gortbrack, its shallow grooves and cupmarks cut into a surface so smooth they might be water marks rather than tool work. Paul Phelan found the stone in 2018, long after forest had closed off the mountain views that may once have framed it. Whoever made those lines worked in a narrow band no wider than a outstretched arm, perhaps marking a boundary, a path or a memory now lost. The bog keeps the stone cool and the grooves faint, inviting curiosity more than certainty.

In low lying blanket bog and heath (59m OD), at the base of a short S-facing slope, at the base of the Blackwater River valley. The intended views of the surrounding mountains are obscured by forestry to SW, SE and NE. This is a slightly rough and unfractured earthfast sandstone boulder (3.05m NE-SW; 2.1m NW-SE; H 0.85m at NW) which has a subrectangular decorated surface (1.6m NE-SW; 0.45m NW-SE) that is convex and NW-facing. The decorated surface bears seven motifs including a cluster of three inverted cupmarks (overall dims. 15cm NE-SW; 10cm NW-SE) arranged in a triangular format are located off-centre to SW. This cluster consists of two well-preserved inverted cupmarks (dims. 5cm x 4.5cm) which are egg-like and a third similar, yet very weathered example that may have been damaged by freeze-thaw action. These inverted cupmarks are each defined by a deeply incised circular margin (Wth 1.5cm; D 9mm). It is feasible that the inverted cupmarks are mimicking two natural erosion features toward the base of the stone. A radial groove (L 10cm; Wth 1.5cm; D 4mm) extends from the SW most of these cupmarks at SSE. A regular cupmark (diam. 5cm; D 3mm) is adjacent to the cluster at NE. A meandering groove (overall L 0.9m; Wth 1cm; D 1-2mm) originates from a penannular ring (dims. 9cm x 5cm) at the top of the stone (directly above the cluster) and extends diagonally across the decorated surface, terminating at a medial glacial striation. A second meandering groove which is narrow and faint, is adjacent to W of the cluster. There are four pock marks at its S end. Two semi-circular grooves (C 11cm; Wth 3cm; D 3mm) are located at the NE end of the decorated surface. There are potentially other motifs on the surface of this stone, however it is too weathered to decipher. This rock art site was initially discovered in 2018 by Paul Phelan of the KerryLIFE Project, Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 13 July 2018

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the rock art in Gortbrack may have held ritual or territorial significance, possibly linked to landscape features such as the Blackwater River valley. Its meaning remains unclear, though such sites were often associated with symbolic navigation of the landscape or seasonal cycles.

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