What is recorded here

Derrynablaha holds six low stones on a stony Kerry slope, but the smallest one still wears a cup-and-ring and two cupmarks despite heavy weathering. The marks sit on rough sandstone above the Kealduff River valley, small enough to touch yet old enough to have survived centuries of rain, grazing and forgetting. A person may have knelt there in upland silence, pressing a tool or finger into stone while the valley waited below. The cluster does not demand wonder, but it refuses to disappear.

This small earthfast stone, .95m x .5m, features a very weathered cup-and-ring and two simple cupmarks (Finlay 1973, 79). See attached drawing of rock art taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, Fig. 59 (d) The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 301. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. In a very stony area of upland heath pasture, on a S-facing slope (248m OD), overlooking Kealduff River valley of which stream to SW is a tributary. One of a cluster of six low profile, decorated stones which occupy a small area (dims. 16m NE-SW; 8m NW-SE) of hillside. Slightly rough and fractured sandstone rock outcrop (dims. 2.75m N-S; 1.85m E-W; H 0.35m) with a sub-rectangular decorated surface (dims. 1.35m N-S; 1.5m E-W), having a SW-facing aspect. The rock art is weathered and barely traceable consisting of a single cupmark (diam. 4cm; D 2mm); one cup-and-ringmark (diam. 13cm) having a central cup (diam. 5cm ; D 8mm) and a ring (Wth 2cm; D 3mm) which is curtailed by a natural fracture line (long-axis ENE-WSW) across S-sector. Finlay (1973, 9a) describes two cupmarks, but only one is visible; the area indicated on the sketch appears to be a naturally dimpled/depressed area. Rock art (KE082-023006-) is located 4.5m to NE. Lough Brin is situated to E. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 8 March 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the cup-and-ring and cupmarks on this stone are associated with ritual or symbolic practices common in prehistoric Europe. Such motifs may have had ceremonial, territorial, or astronomical significance, though specific local meaning or folklore is not recorded.

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