What is recorded here

Three cup-and-ring motifs are carved into a gentle west-facing sandstone ridge in Glansallagh, overlooking Mount Gabriel through heather and gorse. The largest oval cup measures fifteen centimetres across and wears two rings two to three millimetres deep, while a smaller cup-and-ring sits twenty centimetres southeast and a possible third cup marks the west edge. Moss and striations hide further carvings, suggesting the ridge once displayed a longer row of signs facing the open water and dark mountains beyond.

On an E-W ridge of outcropping rock which is partially covered with heather and gorse, overlooking Mount Gabriel to the W. Three weathered cup-and-ring motifs are visible on the rock surface. The E motif is a cup (diam. 0.05m; D 0.02m) and two rings. The larger example, 0.018m to the W of the previous one, consists of an oval cup (0.12m E-W; 0.07m N-S; D 0.015m) and three rings. To the SE of the latter and partially obscured by a heather-covered sod is a cup (diam. 0.04m; D 0.015m) and two rings. Striations run E-W through the rock and pocked solution pits occur throughout the surface, which slopes gently to the W. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009 On a gentle W-facing slope of a ridge (long-axis E-W) (77m OD), at S edge of coniferous forestry plantation. A bend in a drystone field wall is c. 3m to SW and a forest trackway is c. 10.75m to N. Views of surrounding landscape are largely obscured by forestry. According to photos in SMR file, there was previously a good view of Mount Corrin to W and there was probably an equally good view of Mount Gabriel to SW. Monument was completely obscured by vegetation, however it was identified under moss using previous photos in SMR file which show the adjacent drystone wall arrangement and a white marker stone. A slightly rough and unfractured expanse of sandstone rock outcrop which has natural striations (long-axis E-W) and pocked solution pits across the surface. The decorated surface (dims. 0.95m NE-SW; 0.90m NW-SE) has a very gentle W-facing aspect and bears three decorative elements which are weathered, yet traceable. A large, oval cup-and-two-ring motif (dims. 39cm x 35cm; ring Wth 2-3cm; D 2-3mm; cup dims. 15cm x 10cm; D 10mm) is located in the centre of the decorated surface. A smaller, oval cup-and-two-ring motif (dims. 30cm x 27cm; ring Wth 1.5-2.5cm; D 2-3mm; cup dims. 10cm x 7.5cm; D 10mm) is c. 0.2m to SE. A possible oval cupmark (dims. 8cm x 6cm; D 10mm) is c. 27cm to WSW of the large cup-and-two-ring motif. It is probable that other motifs exist under the moss. An elongated and two suboval solution marks are adjacent to S. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 13 July 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, the cup-and-ring motifs at Glansallagh are associated with ritual or symbolic practices, possibly linked to territorial markers, ceremonial activity, or ancestral belief systems. Similar motifs across Ireland and Britain are often found in landscape settings with wider ceremonial or funerary contexts.

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