stones historical ireland

An Ogham stone, placed in a niche beside the road, bearing the inscription NETA-CARI NEGA CAGI...

A number of standing stones (300 reportly) spread over a number of fields, but they do not form any apparent plan.
It is advisible that you should walk up to the track to the hill as you vehical may get damaged....

Rising picturesquely above a gorse-grown rocky outcrop, on the crest of a hill commanding a broad sweep of countryside, this shapely 'hole stone' is a good example of its type and a familiar landmark in the locality. Typical of places where the dumping of refuse is specifically prohibited, the immediate area abounds in unsightly litter. A tapered dolerite slab about 5 feet high and 21/2 feet wide at the base, it is pierced with a circular hole 3 inches in diameter, neatly cut, with smooth...

This stone, about three feet high, was removed here to the grounds of a private house from its original position beside the Rath of Feerwore some miles away. The lowest portion has no decoration; in the middle is a Greek step-pattern. The top half of the stone is covered in a profusion of curvilinear ornament in relief which is typical of the Celtic art style known as La Tene.

It is the finest example in Europe of a series of presumably ritual stones decorated with Celtic ornament, so...

Though ignored by some guide books, this is a very fine megalith which unfortunately loses much of its impressiveness on account of the roadside hedge which threatens to envelop it. It has long been neglected and abused; a photograph taken in 1914 shows it defaced with auctioneers; posters; latterly it has become a target for religious graffiti. The bulky granite capstone is 8 feet long and up to 5 feet thick and rests, somewhat precariously it would appear, on four of the six basalt uprig...

Its capstone is supported by three uprights, but on e of these-and the capstone-were erected in the 19th century to make it look like a dolmen. However, the monument itself is genuinely Stone Age, for two of the uprights supporting the capstone are the portals of the forecourt of a court-tomb of around 3000 B.C., which gave access to a burial chamber of three sections in a cairn bordered with kerb-stones. Easier to find than this court-tomb, which is known locally as the Broad Stone, is anothe...

Birthplace of the National Flag. A large stone marks the location of the first raising of the familiar green, white and gold tricolour in 1848. A local Committee continue the tradition of raising the flag in the village each morning....

Among the few relics which Galway retains from the days of the horse are Jostle Stones. These are small conical stones, usually placed at corners of narrow lanes and gateways with the purpose of preventing carriages from cutting corners too fine.

These jostle stones helped save both carriage wheel and corner from damage. One such Jostle Stone can be found at the corner of Easons, in church lane. Its matching partner has long since disappeared....

A beautifully decorated cross-inscribed pillar standing in an old walled monastic enclosure, which also contains two smaller cross-slabs and the foundations of a number of beehive huts. Extensive excavations also revealed a 'founder's tomb' and a stone oratory preceded by a wooden structure....

Cloughmore, a 30-ton Granite boulder lies on the Mountain Ridge approximately 1000 feet above Rostrevor village. Geolgists describe Cloughmore as a spectacular deposit from the Ice Age, but local folklore has much more colourful story that relates to Finn McCool (the legendary Irish Giant). The giant got into a fight with his archrival Ruscaire , another giant, and they threw bolders at each other. This is how Cloughmore arrived at this spot....