What is recorded here

Kealduff Upper holds a upright sandstone slab set into a trackway wall, marking one of the last places where human hands shaped stone before forgetting. Its cups and rings still catch light across the Behy valley, suggesting that people walked here often enough to believe the landscape remembered them back. The wall has not buried the art; it has kept the art company.

Set on edge in the boundary wall of a trackway, this decorated slab measures 1.5m x .7m. A cup-and-two rings, with traces of a third, is linked by a radial groove to a cup-and-ring. Beneath this is a cup-and-three rings with a radial groove. See attached drawing of rock art taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, Fig. 66 (b) 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. 335. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. In rough pasture (142m OD), incorporated into stonewall field boundary (long-axis NW-SE) defining NE side of trackway; Good views of River Behy valley NE->E and Beenreagh, Macklaun, Knocknaman, Coomreagh and Drung Hill mountains SE->NW. Rock art (KE071-089----) is c. 8m to NE. A smooth and unfractured upright sandstone (dims. 1.30m NE-SW; 0.50m NW-SE; max. H 0.05m) with a rectangular decorated surface (dims. 1.30m NE-SW, 0.50m NW-SE) having a SW-facing aspect. A cup-and-ring motif (overall diam. 9cm; cup diam. 1.5cm; D 3mm; ring Wth 1cm; D 2-3mm) is located upon the lower area of the stone surface. A cup-and-three-ring motif (overall diam. 12cm; cup diam. 2cm; D 3mm; ring Wth 1cm; D 3mm) having a partial outer ring on SW side is adjacent to NW. These two motifs are linked by a linear groove (dims. Wth 1cm; D 3mm). A cup-and-three-ring motif further to S, depicted by O’Sullivan & Sheehan (1996, 102; Fig. 66a), was obscured by vegetation and not visible. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 5 July 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, this rock art may have had ritual or territorial significance, common features in such boundary contexts. Cup-and-ring motifs are often associated with symbolic or ceremonial use, though specific folklore linked to this site is not recorded.

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