Rock art, Cloon, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
On a north-west-facing slope of mountain heath above Cloon Lough in County Kerry, a large sandstone boulder carries a set of carved marks that most walkers would pass without a second glance.
Partly covered in sod and vegetation, the boulder measures nearly four metres at its longest and rises to just over a metre at its eastern end. What makes it remarkable is not its size but its surface: two roughly rectangular faces of the stone have been deliberately worked, each carrying a distinct arrangement of motifs pecked into the rock by patient, repeated strikes.
The south-west-facing surface holds the more elaborate decoration. A penannular ring, that is, a ring with a deliberate gap rather than a fully closed circle, sits towards the western edge, its open ends terminating in two short parallel grooves. Beside it is a possible cupmark, a shallow circular depression of the kind found on prehistoric carved stones across Ireland and Britain, and a second, smaller solid ring. Spreading out around both rings is a network of meandering connected lines of pickmarks, wandering across the stone in a way that resists easy interpretation. Two further lines of pickmarks run down from the sod along the southern margin, one of them making a right-angled turn near its lower end and crossing a small natural step in the rock. The north-facing surface is quieter: three parallel vertical grooves of differing lengths, and a partial ring sitting on a slightly raised ledge. A small stream curves around the boulder to the south and south-west. The monument was identified in 2016 by A. Lambe, making it a relatively recent addition to Kerry's catalogue of prehistoric rock art, a tradition generally associated with the later Neolithic and early Bronze Age periods in Ireland.
The boulder sits at roughly 108 metres above sea level, overlooking Cloon Lough some 130 metres to the north-west. The carvings are defined by pickmarks rather than deep incision, so low-angle light, particularly in the morning or late afternoon, is the most reliable way to read the surfaces clearly. The sod and vegetation covering parts of the stone mean that some motifs may extend further than what is currently visible.