What is recorded here
Seven of the eleven stones lie flat, breaking the circle’s edge and exposing shallow sockets where furze now grows. The remaining uprights guard a hidden chamber beside Dunmanus Bay, waiting for someone reckless enough to lift the fallen slabs and reveal what the earth swallowed.
Situated in an area of outcropping rock with dense furze and brambles, overlooking Dunmanus Bay to the S. The monument was cleared of vegetation on rediscovery in 1995 (see Power et al. 1992, 43). The circle is incomplete: four erect and seven prostrate slabs indicate a circle of eleven stones. Both entrance stones and the axial stone are prostrate and the sockets for three fallen stones are visible with some packing-stones still in situ. Orthostats are 0.9m to 1.4m L, 0.2m to 0.55m T and 0.8m to 1.4m H. The internal measurement along the main axis, aligned NE-SW, is c. 7.5m. Two shallow pits were dug within the circle in modern times, one at the centre and the other beside an orthostat to S. The cover-stone of a possible boulder-burial (CO130-016001-) stands in the NW quadrant of the circle and a second example (CO130-043----) stands immediately outside the circle to S.
The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009).
Date of upload: 22 December 2009
Likely dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, the stone circle may have functioned as a ceremonial or ritual site, possibly linked to astronomical observations or seasonal gatherings. Its incomplete nature suggests possible abandonment or partial construction.
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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