What is recorded here

Two slabs lie beneath furze bushes in rough boggy land on the south side of Knocknamorrive hill, east of the Caragh river. Cooke recorded a third stone here, describing a cup-and-ring linked to a grid pattern, but that stone has vanished. What remains are small fragments bearing cup-and-ring motifs and intersecting grooves, pulled from the field during clearance and left beside the fence. They are not grand, but they are not empty either. They mark a place where human hands worked stone long before the land was divided into fields, and where that work was nearly lost again.

Two slabs lie at the S side of a field fence, beneath a dense growth of furze bushes, in rough boggy land on the S side of Knocknamorrive hill, E of the Caragh river. Cooke recorded a third stone at this location but this cannot now be located. (3) (KE072-017002-) Cooke described this stone as roughly rectangular, 19 inches by 15 inches (.48m .38m), and featuring a cup-and-ring linked to a subrectangular grid pattern (1906, 11). 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. 359. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 1 August 2013 In rough, level pasture (80m OD), on S side of field boundary (long-axis NE-SW); A relatively recent breach (Wth c. 4m) has been made in the boundary, adjacent to W of the rock art location. Monument not located. An earlier survey drawing depicts a small, sub-rectangular stone fragment bearing a cup-and-ring motif having four equally spaced, linear grooves extending from it (O’Sullivan & Sheehan 1996, 106; Fig. 70c). Various other intersecting linear grooves cover the remainder of the stone surface (ibid). According to local information, there were three ex-situ rock art stones located here as a result of field clearance (KE072-017----, KE072-017001- and KE072-017002-). Two of these rock art sites (KE072-017---- & KE072-017001-) were retained at this location, adjacent to the field boundary and the third stone (KE072-017002-) had been removed by UCC (local information). Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 5 July 2017

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the rock art at Shanacashel may have served a ritual or territorial function, common in such upland landscapes. No specific folklore is recorded, but its placement near a river and hill suggests possible ceremonial or symbolic significance.

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