What is recorded here

Derrynablaha holds two weathered cup-and-rings on a fractured sandstone boulder in upland Kerry, marking one of the oldest visible human gestures in the county. The shallow cups and incomplete rings sit beside a stream and farm road, suggesting people returned often enough to trust the stone would remember them. Rain has softened the edges, but the repeated shape remains clear: a small mark made large by time, witness, and patience.

This large boulder measures 2.9m x 1.8m x 2.5m high and features two cup-and-rings on the surface, which slopes upwards to N. Both motifs are very weathered (Anati 1963, 10, No. 14; Finlay 1973, 85). 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. 315. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 28 July 2013 In upland heath pasture, on a slight NE-facing slope (104m OD). Very rough and fractured, substantial sandstone rock outcrop (dims. 1.6m N-S; 2.6m E-W; H 0.8m) with a square decorated surface (dims. 0.15m N-S; 0.65m E-W) having a SW-facing aspect. The rock art is very weathered yet traceable and concentrated upon the western half of the rock surface, to W of natural fracture (long-axis N-S): Two cup-and-one ring (total diam. c. 12cm) situated c. 34cm apart. The western motif has a cupmark (diam. 5cm; D 4-5mm) and a complete ring (Wth 1.5cm; D 2mm). The eastern motif has a cupmark (diam. 5cm; D 10mm) and incomplete ring (Wth 1.5cm; D 2mm), which encloses W-half of cupmark only. A stream is located c. 10m to N and farm roadway is c. 8m to E. Rock Art (KE082-034001-) is adjacent to S. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 9 March 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the cup-and-ring motifs on the boulder are associated with ritual or symbolic practices, possibly linked to territorial markers, ceremonial activity, or early artistic expression. Such rock art is often found in landscape settings with wider ritual or funerary significance, though local folklore or specific use for this site is not recorded.

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