What is recorded here

Half a metre of smooth sandstone, wide as a man’s outstretched arms, carries two faint cup-and-ring designs and a shallow groove on a slope above Brandon Bay. The marks are so worn they may be memory rather than measurement, yet the stone still bridges a collapsed field wall, holding the shape of an old boundary in mountain heath.

This large boulder, 1.78m x 1m x .25m thick, has been decorated at either side of its smooth upper surface with a cup-and-3 circles. Beside the E design is a small cup-and-circle with a possible outer circle. The long, linear groove extending NW from the E cup-and-3 circles also appears to be artificial. The stone straddles the low remains of a disused field wall and, if in its original position, suggests an Early Bronze Age or earlier date for the field system. However, it may well have been removed from elsewhere for reuse in the wall. To see a 3D model of this monument, visit; https://skfb.ly/oyoWI The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 25. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 3 August 2013 In mountain heath and rough pasture (101m OD), on a NE-facing slope. Good views of Brandon Mountain range and Brandon Bay NW-> N->NE and overlooked by higher ground of Slievanea mountain to SW. A smooth and fractured sandstone (dims. 1.80m E-W; 0.98m N-S; max. H 0.26m at N) with a generally flat, subrectangular decorated surface (dims. 1.80m E-W; 0.88m N-S). The motifs are very faint and consist of a large cup-and-three-ring motif (overall diam. 30cm; ring Wth 1cm; D 2mm; cup diam. 7cm; D 10mm) at the E end of the decorated surface; The space between the rings increases from the centre to the outer ring. A linear groove (L 33cm; Wth 1-2cm; D 1-2mm) extends from the cup-and-three-ring motif, at NW. A partial cup-and-four-ring motif (overall diam. 30cm; ring Wth 1-1.5cm; D 1-2mm; cup diam. 4cm; D 6mm) at W end of decorated surface is faint; A possible semi-circular ring is further to E. A half cup-and-ring motif (overall dims. 9cm N-S; 7cm E-W; cup dims. 3cm N-S; 3.5cm N-S; D 5mm) is upon E edge of stone. This rock art example forms part of the remains of a drystone field boundary (long-axis c. N-S). Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 7 July 2017

This rock art, dating likely to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, may have had ritual or symbolic significance, possibly linked to water or fertility given the prevalence of cup-and-ring motifs in such contexts. Interpretations often connect such designs with celestial navigation, territorial markers, or ceremonial practices.

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