What is recorded here

Thirty years of road works and forgotten fields might have buried the marks forever, but excavation on the South-Eastern Motorway brought one of three small Carrickmines boulders into the light. Rock A still wears at least twenty-four cupmarks across a convex granite face no larger than a outstretched hand, each dimple cut with enough care to remain distinguishable. They cluster like rain recorded on stone, waiting for someone to remember that even a road must ask what it is covering.

This is one of three small boulders (DU026-146/147----) containing cup-marks which were discovered during archaeological investigations on the route of the South-Eastern Motorway (Clinton 2002, 87; 2004, 131). Rock A described by Dr Muriris O'Sullivan as a; 'Slightly rounded granite boulder (00E0525:3:104). The surface into which the cupmarks are carved is convex in form with at least 24 cupmarks to be seen on a face measuring 0.61m x 0.38m. The largest of the cupmarks measure approximately 4 cm across while the smallest examples are about half that diameter. The field of cupmarks extends more or less over the entire area of the face. In spite of the variations in size the cupmarks appear to form a coherent group in general disposition on the stone, individual form and carving technique' (Breen 2012, 397). Breen, T. 2012 Report on the Findings of the Archaeological Excavations at Carrickmines, Co. Dublin - Carried out under licences 00E0525, 02E1532 and Ministerial Directions. M50 South-eastern Motorway Scheme 4 volumes. Prepared on behalf of V.J. Keely Ltd. for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. See attached drawing of rock art taken from Breen 2012, Fig. 8.3.1 Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 4 January 2023

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the cup-marks on the boulders at Carrickmines Great may have held ritual or symbolic significance, possibly related to water, fertility, or celestial events. No specific folklore is recorded for this site.

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