What is recorded here

An unknown chisel cut a cup and six rings into a triangular sandstone now buried beneath a Meath field. The inner rings crowd like a heartbeat while the outer rings stretch farther apart, suggesting a chamber expanding into distance. A sharp line pierces every circle like a needle through a target. The chisel may have marked a border, a gift, or a warning for people who no longer speak.

A roughly triangular stone (max. dims 1.55m x 0.7m; T 0.3m) was recovered in ploughing during 1972 and is now in the NMI (1974: 43). It is a weathered sandstone scored with plough marks and has a single motif of a cupmark with six concentric circles, the outer three of which are incomplete, probably through damage. A radial line crosses all the circles. The inner three circles are closely spaced while the outer three are more widely spaced. There are some small cupmarks separating the inner and outer series of circles. (Shee Twohig 2001, 119; Shee Twohig et al. 2010, 21; Eogan 2011, 8, No. 8) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 3 March, 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the cupmark on the Rock art in Ballinvally may have held ritual or symbolic significance, possibly related to water, fertility, or celestial events. Such motifs are commonly found in ritual contexts across Ireland and Britain.

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