Standing stone in Drumgullane West

On the lower flat terrace of ridge running roughly E-W on S side of Licky river valley, in wet reclaimed grassland. Ground waterlogged immediately S of standing stone. The views are good to the N with the Knockmealdown mountains visible in the distance, from N to E it is dominated by the ridge on the opposite side of the valley, poor E, limited S by rising ground and poor W along the ridge, with very good views to the NW. According to Power (1952, 96) Drumgallane, or Drum Galláin, means the hill of the Galláns or standing stones. He records that formerly two standing stones, one slender, the other rather thick were on the hill. The standing stones (WA038-051----) mentioned by Power were previously unrecorded. However, in 2018 a standing stone was identified by Finbarr and Daragh Nolan at Drumgullane West which may be Power's 'rather thick' standing stone. A sandstone standing stone (H 1.11m; 0.56mNW face; 0.83m SW face; 0.23m SE face; 1.06m NE face), aligned NW-SE, with the upper surface rising towards the NW. It has been badly spalled resulting in the erosion, particularly at ground level, of the S angle, giving the ground plan a triangular appearance, however, at a slightly higher level the sub-rectangular plan of the stone is more evident. The NE side appears to have fractured, the present face appears to be the result of a clear vertical split. There are a lot of field clearance stones around the base of the standing stone, particularly to the NE and SW. There is a mound of field clearance stones c. 28m SE of the standing stone which is heavily overgrown with brambles. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 19 November 2018