the giant s ring

Four miles south of Belfast in the townland of Ballynahatty, on a plateau overlooking the River Lagan, is the largest prehistoric ritual enclosure in Ireland. A circular earthwork up to 12 feet high surrounds an open space nearly 600 feet in diameter and some 7 acres in area. Five 'entrance' gaps, not all of which are presumed to be original, give access to the interior of the ring, and a few lone trees break the skyline along the rim of the bank. The ground inside the enclosure is somewhat higher at the centre, rather like an inverted saucer, evidently the result of earth having been removed from round the edge to provide additional material for the construction of the bank. Placed slightly off centre in the ring is a megalithic chamber with passage-tomb affinities, consisting of five orthostats supporting a tilted capstone. If there was a covering cairn no trace of it remains. While not necessarily contemporary, both tomb and earthwork are probably of late Neolithic date. In more recent times it is recorded that The Giant's Ring served as a venue for horse races, while nowadays it is a favourite haunt of picnickers and dog-walkers.