Stone circle in Loughgur

In pasture within a flat field on the S lower slope of Knocksentry Hill also known as Knockroe, 650m E of the NE shore of Lough Gur. A cist burial cemetery (LI032-055----) is located 140m to NW; Circle O (LI032-060----) lies 40m to SW and Circle P (LI032-059---) is located 100m to S; as are a number of other mound sites (LI032-058/-321). The stone circle is not depicted on any OSi historic maps. The site is not visible on the OSi orthoimage taken 2005-12 or on Digital Globe orthoimages taken 2011-2013. Barry (1900, 374) recorded that ‘the remarkable group of three stone forts on Knockroe, east of the lake, is not marked on the Ordnance Survey. At present there are only two, but Croker's map shows a third east of the existing ones’. The assumption is that first two sites are Circle O (LI032-060----) and Circle P (LI032-059---) and the third site to the ‘east’ is LI032-058----. O’Kelly (1944, 24) recounted Corker (1833, 110) and described LI032-058---- as having ‘stood beside Circles O and P No trace of it is now visible and there is no memory of it in the neighbourhood. It measured 28 yards [25.5m] and 113 [103m] in circumference’. The approximate location of the site is visible on Google Earth orthoimages taken 28/06/2018 and 20/09/2020. The site location is based on Croker’s map of 1833. See attached Google Earth orthoimages Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 17 November 2020

Probably dates to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, given its association with a cist burial cemetery. Such stone circles may have had ritual or ceremonial functions, possibly linked to burial practices or seasonal gatherings.