Standing stone, Cloghboola Beg, Co. Cork

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Stone Monuments

Standing stone, Cloghboola Beg, Co. Cork

In the bogland of Cloghboola Beg, on a west-facing slope in mid Cork, a prehistoric standing stone has been quietly absorbed into the landscape in a way that blurs the line between ancient monument and working farmland.

At some point in the intervening centuries since it was first erected, the stone was incorporated into an old field boundary running north-west to south-east, effectively press-ganging a monument of probable prehistoric origin into the more mundane business of marking out agricultural land.

The stone itself is modest in scale but not without presence. It stands 1.15 metres high, measures roughly 1.1 metres by 0.7 metres at its base, and is irregular in plan, meaning it has no clean geometric profile of the kind associated with more formally dressed standing stones. Its long axis runs north-north-east to south-south-west, an alignment that may or may not be significant; standing stones across Ireland are sometimes thought to reflect astronomical or territorial intentions, though without further excavation or documentary evidence, the original purpose of this particular stone remains open. What is clear is that the boggy ground surrounding it has likely done much to preserve both the stone and whatever archaeological context survives beneath the surface. Bogland, with its low oxygen content and high acidity, is among the most effective natural preserving environments in Ireland, which is part of why the midlands and western counties continue to yield unexpected finds.

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Pete F
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