Standing stone in Ballyhork

According to the OS Memoir (1835), there was a 'Giant's Grave' in this townland. A description and accompanying sketch show an upright stone 31/2 feet (c. 1.05m) long and 5 feet (c. 1.5m) high beside a prostrate one of similar size. The precise location of the site is not recorded. However, it may be the feature named 'Standing Stones' on the original OS 6-inch map (1835) and 'Standing Stone' on the 1846-8 and 1905 editions, no trace of which now survives (Lacy 1983). This stone was located at NGR C 172 401. The available evidence indicates that it is unlikely that the feature referred to was a megalithic tomb. OS Memoirs, Clondavaddog parish (1835), 31 (sketch); Lacy 1983, 89, no. 515; SMR 1987, 17:7 may refer; RMP 1995, 17:7 may refer. The above description was published in the 'Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Volume VI, County Donegal.' Compiled by: Eamon Cody (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). Pre-development testing was carried out Richard Crumlish under licence No. 08E0319 on 8 May 2008 at a site at Ballyhork townland on the Fanad peninsula in Co. Donegal. The site was located within the constraint for a standing stone site (DG017–007). The first edition of the OS six-inch sheet noted two standing stones here, while the second and third editions noted one. No surface trace of the monument survived. It would have been located a short distance (less than 20m) west of the proposed development, possibly on a prominent height across the road. The proposed development consisted of the construction of a slatted cattle shed with associated siteworks. The testing consisted of the excavation (by machine) of two trenches which measured 13m and 13.1m long respectively, 1.1–1.7m wide and 0.1–1.2m deep. The testing revealed concrete, modern fill and a rubble wall foundation associated with the recently demolished outhouses, above topsoil, natural subsoil and bedrock. Nothing of archaeological significance was revealed.