What is recorded here

Kealduff Upper holds a triangular boulder in a Kerry stream, marked with eight small cupmarks and three cups trapped inside an oval ring. The stones sit by the north bank, waiting for clean water and human attention. They may have guided a drink, recorded a boundary, or simply pleased the person who struck them.

Rock art identified and described by Aoibheann Lambe as; 'In a stream, by its north bank, a roughly triangular shaped boulder with an upper surface tapering to SW measuring c. 2m along its long axis NE/SW and 1m wide, on which is inscribed 8 isolated cupmarks (D 4cm), a cup-and-ring composition whereby 3 clearly defined cupmarks (D c. 4cm) are enclosed by a sub-oval ring (c. 30cm wide NW/SE x 18cm long). A further single cupmark (D 4cm) and 2 faint cupmarks are on the ring at SW. The groove forming the SW side of the ring continues past the ring diagonally to E to the edge of the boulder. Running parallel to this groove, 5 cm below at SW, is another groove with 2 further cupmarks (D 4cm)'. See attached photographs courtesy of Aoibheann Lambe Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Aoibheann Lambe Date of upload: 7 October 2022

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the rock art may have held ritual or territorial significance, possibly linked to water as a sacred or symbolic element in prehistoric belief systems.

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