Stone Circle

In the garden of a house, to the N of the Kenmare-Castletownbere road and c. 9.5km SW of Kenmare. In 1841 this stone circle was described as 'a circle of standing stones with a small cromlech [KE101-007002-] in the centre. The circle is thirty-five feet, six inches [10.82m] in diameter and composed of twelve standing stones, each being from four feet to five feet ten inches [1.21m-1.77m] in height, three feet [0.91m] wide and two feet [0.6m] thick' (OSL, 176). According to Ó Nualláin (1984a, 28, no. 44), the stone circle was in a ruinous condition for many years and was reconstructed c. 1964 and most likely now bears little resemblance to its original form. It now consists of a U-shaped arrangement of loosely set upright stones with a possible boulder-burial (KE101-007002-) in the centre. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, this stone circle may have had ritual or astronomical significance, with the central cromlech suggesting a funerary or ceremonial use. Local folklore sometimes associates such sites with ancient gatherings or supernatural beings.