Standing stone, Dromdoohig More, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Stone Monuments
A slab of stone just over two metres tall stands alone in a field near the top of a ridge in Dromdoohig More, Co. Kerry, its orientation aligned to the northeast and southwest with the quiet precision that characterises so many of these prehistoric monuments.
What makes this particular stone worth a closer look is the geometry of it: rectangular when you measure its face, yet triangular when viewed in plan, a cross-section that gives it a slightly wedge-like profile rather than the simple upright pillar one might expect.
Standing stones of this kind are found across Kerry and throughout Ireland, raised during the Bronze Age or possibly earlier, and their purpose remains genuinely uncertain. Some alignments suggest an interest in solar or lunar events; others may have marked boundaries, burial sites, or routeways. This stone, measuring 1.4 metres across and 0.85 metres deep at its base, sits on a level area near the ridge top, which would have made it visible across the surrounding landscape. Roughly 86 metres to the west lies a cross-slab, a flat stone bearing an incised or carved cross, almost certainly of early medieval date. The proximity of these two monuments, one prehistoric, one Christian, is a pairing seen at many sites around Ireland, where later communities chose to mark or perhaps reconsecrate places that were already old and already significant.
