stones historical ireland

A squared pillarstone of monumental appearance, 7 feet high and 3 feet wide. its south-eastern face is decorated with a profusion of cup-marks, many with single and multiple surrounding rings, a characteristic motif of the Galician or rock art of the Bronze Age. The stone is in a field behind a farmhouse, 1 mile north-north-east of Muff, to the west of the coast road to Carrowkeel and Moville....

An early Christian pillar stone which may have formed the shaft of a 9th century High Cross.
On the south-western face are panels with interlacing, a praying figure, and cross and Saints Paul and Anthony in the Desert.

On the north-east face are panels with interlacing, four animals and facing upwards, a boat with four oarsmen (representing, perhaps, Christ stilling the Waves)....

A small, rounded stone decorated with incised curvilinear ornament in the Celtic La Tene style. It probably dates to the last few centuries B.C. and was probably ritual in purpose. Together with the stone at Turoe, Co. Galway (q.v.), it is one of the best of the Celtic decorated stones of Europe....

Seven of the eight Ogham stones in this group were discovered in a souterrain at Coolmagort in the nineteenth century and have been set up on this site close to Dunloe Castle. The tallest stone is 8 feet high. There is also a prostrate slab taken from the grounds of nearby Kilbonane church.

Ogham stones were frequently used as lintels in the construction of underground passages. Because of their long protection from exposure, the Dunloe inscriptions are unusually well preserved. A...

An inscription on the south-east face records that Ternohc son of Ceran Bic put the place under the protection of St. Peter the Apostle. As Ternohc's death is recorded in 714 or 716, the inscription could make this the earliest historically datable stone monument in Ireland. Above the inscription is a Latin cross and, beneath it, a decorative equal armed cross in a circle.

The north-western face bears other forms of crosses, both with and without enclosing circle. The pillar stood at...

Ardmore is the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland. St. Declan lived in the period 350 -450 AD and christianised this area before the coming of St. Patrick. St. Declan's feast day is "Pattern Day" every 24th of July....

A church, built around 1200, which served as an auxiliary to the Augustinian Priory of Mohill. The church has simple but attractive east and south lancet windows. The moulding on the outside of the east window ends with two upturned heads.

The plain north doorway was inserted in the 15th century. Beside the entrance to the graveyard an Ogham stone has been re-erected - it is the only one in Co. Leitrim. All that can be read of the inscription is the name of the person commemorate...

"For the late Stone Age, Knowth was one of Europe's gretest public buildings. To describe it as a massive and majestic masterpiece that reflected the pride and pomp of contemporary society is not an exaggeration"....

About 5km out on the Ballinamore road is the Killycluggin Stone. The original or this roadside replica is in the National Museum in Dublin.

The ornamentation is from the early Iron Age and contains incised La Tene motifs. La Tene relates to the Celtic culture in Europe from about the 5th to the 1st century BC which was characterised by curvilinear decoration like that found on the Killycluggin Stone.

The first discoveries of this style of decoration were made at La Tene, Lac de N...

Known as 'The Giant's Griddle' and recorded as such on the 1/2 inch O.S. Map, this handsome megalith is fairly well preserved despite forming part of a modern wall into which some of the cairn stones have been built. The chamber lacks at least one of its side stones, but the large capstone is still in position. A cupmarked stone is contained in the wall near the Griddle, and remains of a second tomb lie close by. This monument is not easy to find without asking directions locally, nor is...