What is recorded here

Fourteen irregular boulders of granite and conglomerate still mark a hidden chamber on the NE side of Tallaght Hill. They do not force the eye into a perfect circle; they tilt, gap and wait like a sentence interrupted. Mc Dix wrote of an inner circle in the 1920s, but that smaller ring has vanished from sight. The stones may be guarding a chamber no one remembers how to open.

Situated on a rise in a natural plateau on the NE side of Tallaght Hill. A stone circle comprised of a series of 14 irregularly spaced boulders of granite and conglomerate which appear to delimit rather than define a cairn (DU024-027001-). There is a triangular-shaped granite boulder at W (H 1.5m; L 0.9m; Wth 0.6m) and a large recumbent conglomerate (H 1.05m; L 1.3m; Wth 1.2m) almost directly opposite. Mc Dix (1925, 26) mentions an inner circle of stones (diam. c. 2.7m) but this is not apparent at the time of inspection. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy Revised upload on: 7 July 2018

Likely dating to the Bronze Age, the stone circle at Ballymana may have functioned as a ceremonial or astronomical site, common to such monuments in prehistoric Ireland. While specific folklore is not recorded, such circles were often associated with communal gatherings, rituals, or markers of territorial significance.

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