Rock art, Lemnaheltia, Co. Galway

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Rock art, Lemnaheltia, Co. Galway

Beneath a massive overhanging rectangular boulder in Lemnaheltia, County Galway, a single small hollow has been pecked into the rock.

It is easy to miss, sitting on a shelf inside the sheltered chamber formed by the boulder's overhang, yet its presence there connects this quiet corner of Connacht to a practice stretching back thousands of years into prehistory.

Cupmarks are among the most ancient and widespread forms of rock art found in Ireland, simple circular depressions ground or hammered into stone surfaces whose precise meaning remains debated. They appear on exposed outcrops, on standing stones, and occasionally, as here, in more sheltered settings. The example at Lemnaheltia is associated with a rock shelter, a natural formation where the great rectangular boulder creates a chamber beneath it, offering overhead cover. It was Inez Streeskerk who first noticed the cupmark and brought it to the attention of archaeologist Michael Gibbons, a reminder that significant finds often begin not with a formal excavation but with a careful eye and a willingness to look closely at what is already there.

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