What is recorded here

Druids Altar in County Kildare is a pair of rough boulders where a larger southern stone rests partly on a smaller northern one. It sits near the top of a long steep slope, with a ringbarrow visible downslope. People once called it a dolmen, and legend claims a human skeleton emerged from the stones. The name suggests worship, but the stones themselves offer no altar, no chamber, no proof. They tilt and touch like a forgotten gesture, waiting for someone to remember what they pointed at.

Near the top of a long and moderately steep SW-facing slope in tillage. A ringbarrow (KD027-004----) lies c. 130m downslope to the S. While named ‘Dolmen’ on the latest ed. (1939) of the OS 6-inch map, the site comprises a pair of rough boulders; a larger S one (L 2.5m; Wth 2.5m; H 1.8m) partly resting on a smaller N one (L 1.6m; Wth 1.3m; H 0.7m). Although not accepted as a megalithic tomb by de Valera and O’Nualláin (1972, 101), they note that a human skeleton is said to have been found at the site. (Comerford 1883, II, 239) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 30 August 2012

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