Standing stone, Gurteeniher, Co. Cork

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Stone Monuments

Standing stone, Gurteeniher, Co. Cork

In a pasture on a north-east-facing slope in the townland of Gurteeniher, a large standing stone rises 2.2 metres from the ground, its subrectangular form oriented along a north-east to south-west axis.

What makes the site quietly puzzling is what lies just to its south: a second stone, this one prostrate, stretching 1.5 metres along the ground. Whether it fell, was pushed, or was always intended to lie flat is not recorded.

Standing stones are among the most common and least understood monument types in the Irish landscape. Most are thought to date from the Bronze Age, though firm dating is rarely possible without associated finds or excavation. They appear alone, in pairs, in alignments, and occasionally in proximity to burial sites, though what they marked or meant to the people who erected them remains largely a matter of inference. The Gurteeniher example, measuring 1.2 metres wide and 0.8 metres thick at its base, is a substantial piece of stone, and its deliberate alignment suggests it was placed with intention rather than simply propped upright for convenience. The fallen companion adds an unresolved element to the picture; a second upright in the same orientation would suggest an alignment, but a prostrate stone just to the south reads more like an afterthought, or a casualty of the centuries.

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Pete F
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