Stone circle - multiple-stone, Coollick, Co. Kerry

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Stone Monuments

Stone circle – multiple-stone, Coollick, Co. Kerry

On a south-facing slope in the rough upland pasture of Coollick, a loose arc of ancient stones sits with a quiet, unhurried presence.

Ten stones in total, varying considerably in shape and size, trace a curve running roughly north to south-east across the hillside. Several have fallen over the centuries, and the arc they describe stretches about eleven metres in length. The tallest standing stone reaches only 0.6 metres high, the widest 0.4 metres across, yet collectively they carry the unmistakable geometry of human intention.

This is a multiple-stone circle, a category of prehistoric monument found across south-west Kerry and Cork, typically thought to date from the Bronze Age. Unlike the better-known recumbent stone circles of Cork, which tend to follow stricter formal arrangements, the multiple-stone circles of Kerry often present as incomplete or irregular arcs, which has led to some debate about whether certain examples were ever closed rings at all. The orientation of this arc, its open aspect facing south, and its position on a slope looking out towards Magillycuddy's Reeks, the highest mountain range in Ireland, suggest that sight lines and landscape setting were deliberate considerations for the people who placed these stones here. Whether the arrangement once served a ceremonial, calendrical, or territorial purpose is not recorded anywhere, and the stones themselves offer no easy answers.

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