What is recorded here

Standing stone in Ballard (bear By.) is a 1.5m upright slab leaning west in a field called Páirc a Ghalláin, overlooking Bear Haven in County Cork. It may have marked a boundary, a burial, or a warning to sailors, but its true purpose has faded like the field itself. What remains is a stone still standing where people once paid attention, and that much is enough to remember it.

In pasture, commanding view of Bear Haven. Upright slab (H 1.5m; 0.45m x 0.35m) aligned WSW-ENE, leaning to W. Field called 'Páirc a Ghalláin (CMSS). (pers. comm Connie Murphy) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

Dated to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, this standing stone may have had ritual or territorial significance, possibly linked to landscape orientation or seasonal markers. The name *Páirc a Ghalláin* ("Fairy Park" in Irish) suggests a later folklore association with supernatural or otherworldly beings.

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