What is recorded here

Coumduff rock art sits on lower slopes of Cnoc Mhaoilionáin in County Kerry, where a weathered sandstone boulder still carries faint cup marks and a cup-and-circle with a radial line. The marks are shallow enough that rain, grass and time have nearly taken them back, yet they remain beside standing stones visible across the valley. Whoever cut them worked a small clear place in rough rock, perhaps marking water, boundary, prayer or memory. The valley still gives the design its shape: a little circle, a line outward, and the wide sky beyond.

About 150m N of KE044-020---- is a large earthfast boulder measuring 2.8m x 2.3m with, on its upper surface, 4 cup-marks averaging .015m in depth, and a cup-and-circle with radial line extending through the circle from the cup which is .03m deep. 40m to WNW is a small area of outcropping rock which bears 2 possible cup-marks. From the site a pair of standing stones (KE044-022----) are visible c. 75m to E and a single standing stone (KE044-024----) c. 125m to NE. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 179. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 4 August 2013 In improved pasture (136m OD), on the lower SE-facing slopes of Cnoc Mhaoilionáin. Good views across the Owenascaul River valley S->SE and a gap in hills beyond Anascaul afford a small sea view. A slightly rough and fractured sandstone (dims. 2.15m NW-SE; 1.60m NE-SW; max. H 0.35m) with a subrectangular decorated surface (dims. 0.50m NW-SE; 0.80m NE-SW) which is generally flat with a very slight SE-facing tilt. The motifs are extremely faint and badly weathered and can barely be deciphered. According to Cuppage (1986, 62, Fig. 40 (a), there is a cup-and-one ring motif having a radial groove at SE. This motif (overall diam. 20cm; D 3-4mm) can barely be seen. Faint traces of a linear arrangement (long-axis c. ENE-WSW) of four cupmarks (diam. 4.5cm; D 1-2mm) can be identified to N. Field boundary depicted upon current edition OS map adjacent to NW, has been removed. According to Cuppage (1986, 62), a small area of outcropping rock 40m to WNW, bears two possible cupmarks; this could not be seen and may have been removed or buried when two field boundaries were removed in this area. A pair of standing stones (KE044-022----) are located c. 95m to SE and a single standing stone (KE044-024----) is c. 125m to NE. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 7 July 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the rock art at Coumduff may have held ritual or symbolic significance, possibly linked to celestial observation or territorial marking. Cup-and-circle motifs are commonly associated with ceremonial practices in prehistoric Britain.

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.