What is recorded here

Knockmore Hill in County Carlow holds a granite boulder marked with cup and ring designs, now set upright in a private garden after emerging near the ridge summit around 2004. The stone displays several penannular rings, some with lines extending through their breaks, clustered closely enough to suggest deliberate composition rather than random pitting. Whoever cut those marks worked at ground level on a hill shoulder, creating a compact panel where small cups nest between larger rings. The boulder traveled from earthfast ridge to domestic garden, but the angles and spacing of its carvings remain unchanged.

Discovered c. 2004, near the summit of a ridge that forms the southern shoulder of Knockmore Hill. Now in a garden of house immediately to E (see CW022-066---- for present location). A granite boulder (L 0.9m; H 0.55m; T 0.4m) set on edge, which originally was probably a low-level earthfast boulder. In one corner is a small cup mark (diam. 3.5cm) enclosed by a penannular ring (total diam. 17cm, break in circle 4cm wide). Nearby is a another cup mark (diam. 3.5cm) and penannular ring (total diam. 18cm) with a line extending from the central cup to the break in the enclosing ring. Squeezed between these two large penannular cup and rings is a small cup and ring. Near the middle of the stone is another cup mark (diam. 4cm; D 1cm) enclosed by a penannular ring (total diam. 20cm) with a line extending from the central cup out through the break in the circle and terminating at the outer circumference of the nearby penannular ring. In the space between these two large cup and rings, and placed on either side of the line joining them, is a small cup and ring (total diam. 12cm). There are two further randomly placed unenclosed cup marks (diam. 4cm; D 1cm) on the stone. Compiled by: Claire Breen and Chris Corlett Date of upload: 27 January 2012

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the rock art may have held symbolic or ritual significance, possibly linked to landscape features or territorial markers. Its current location in a garden suggests displacement from its original context, though its original use or meaning remains unclear.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.