Standing stone, Kilfinnane, Co. Limerick

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Stone Monuments

Standing stone, Kilfinnane, Co. Limerick

A single upright stone standing in open grassland near Kilfinnane in County Limerick might not announce itself as remarkable, but its quiet proximity to an earthwork of a very different era gives the spot an unusual layered quality.

The stone and the nearby Kilfinnane motte occupy the same field, separated only by a short distance to the north-east, an arrangement that places prehistoric and medieval monuments in accidental, or perhaps deliberate, conversation with one another.

The standing stone itself is irregular in shape, measuring 1.3 metres in height, 0.3 metres in width, and 0.3 metres in thickness, with its long axis oriented roughly north to south. Standing stones of this kind are generally understood to date from prehistory, though pinning them to a precise period is rarely straightforward without excavation. The neighbouring motte, a raised earthen mound of the kind constructed by Anglo-Norman lords as a base for a timber tower, belongs to an entirely different moment in history, likely the twelfth or thirteenth century. That the two features share a field is the kind of detail that rewards a slow look rather than a quick glance. The site was recorded by Caimin O'Brien and uploaded to the national archaeological record in September 2021.

One practical note for anyone making their way out to see the stone: the ground around its base has been noticeably eroded by livestock, which means the immediate setting is less tidy than it might appear in a survey description. The stone sits in working farmland, so normal courtesies apply when it comes to access and gates. The motte to the north-east is the more visually prominent of the two features and may well be the easier landmark to orient yourself by when approaching from a distance. The stone itself is modest in scale and can easily be missed if you are not looking at ground level as well as the horizon.

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