Standing stone, Loughane More, Co. Cork

Co. Cork |

Stone Monuments

Standing stone, Loughane More, Co. Cork

Between its last formal record and the present, a prehistoric standing stone on a south-facing hillslope at Loughane More quietly gave up the vertical.

Recorded in 1993 as upright and oriented northeast to southwest, the stone has since toppled and now lies prostrate roughly two metres to the northwest of what survives as its well-preserved original socket. It is a small but solid presence, roughly triangular in section and measuring 1.3 metres in length, and it once stood 1.3 metres high. What makes the situation quietly curious is that the fall itself has become part of the record; the original location is still legible in the ground, so the stone's displacement is documented rather than simply lamented.

The hillslope overlooks Crow Head and the mouth of Bantry Bay, a position that may have been deliberately chosen when the stone was first erected, though whether for astronomical, territorial, or ritual reasons is not recorded. Standing stones of this kind are a common feature of the Cork landscape, typically dating to the Bronze Age, and they were sometimes erected singly, sometimes in alignment with other monuments. Here the wider setting is suggestive: two hut sites, the kind of low-walled enclosures associated with early habitation or seasonal agricultural use, lie within roughly 100 metres to the northwest and north-northwest respectively. Whether the stone and the hut sites are broadly contemporary or belong to different phases of activity on the hillside is not clear from what is currently known, but their proximity makes this a denser piece of landscape than the single fallen stone might at first suggest.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Standing stone, Loughane More, Co. Cork. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement