What is recorded here

Standing stone in Derryarkane rises half a metre above grass on a level shoulder overlooking the Mealagh valley, its flat face tilted slightly west as if listening for water. Twenty metres north, five stones form a rough circle, and behind the upright a low cairn spreads like spilled flour. The arrangement suggests a place for marking time, tying loss to landscape, or watching the river bend. Whatever it recorded, the stones still hold their positions while the valley continues moving around them.

On level shoulder on SW-facing slope of Mealagh river valley. Upright stone (H 0.8m; 0.7m x 0.4m) aligned NW-SW. Five-stone circle (CO106-019---) c. 26m to N. (WBBS). Myler (1998, 37) records 'a low spreading cairn of randomly placed stones on the SE side of this stone which has a diameter of 8 yards and a height of 1ft'. 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: 24 January 2013

Probably dates to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, given its association with a stone circle and cairn. Likely had ritual or ceremonial significance, possibly linked to burial practices or territorial markers.

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