Standing stone - pair, Ballahacommane, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Stone Monuments

Standing stone – pair, Ballahacommane, Co. Kerry

In a field at Ballahacommane in County Kerry, two prehistoric standing stones rise from pasture with a quiet deliberateness that has outlasted any written record of why they were placed there.

They are not tall by the standards of Ireland's more celebrated monuments, but their alignment is precise: oriented along a northeast-southwest axis, the pair stand 1.23 metres apart, with an overall span of 3.9 metres from one stone to the other.

The two stones are distinct in character. The northeastern stone, which reaches 1.39 metres in height and measures roughly 1.4 metres by 1.2 metres at its base, is irregular in plan, its edges unworked and uneven. Its partner to the southwest is slightly taller at 1.59 metres, narrower, and more or less rectangular in plan. Paired standing stones of this kind are found across Munster and are generally understood to be prehistoric, though assigning a precise date or function to any individual example remains difficult. Some alignments have been interpreted as markers for celestial events, others as territorial or ritual boundaries, and many resist interpretation altogether. What gives this particular pair an added layer of interest is the view from the site: looking southeast across the Kerry landscape, the two rounded summits of the Paps of Dana are visible on the horizon. Those hills, named for the goddess Danu of Irish mythology, are themselves associated with ancient ritual and sacred landscape, and the visual connection from these stones to that skyline, whether intentional or not, is difficult to ignore.

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 – pair, Ballahacommane, Co. Kerry. 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