Lettergorman, Co Cork

I had a little time to kill recently whilst in Dunmanway and so headed the short drive south of the town to the stones of Lettergorman. First stop, a possible four poster with the tallest stone standing at three metres.

Next was a short trip to the Lettergorman stone circle, just north of the Glashagloragh river. Another northeast/southwest alignment, the stones range from 1-1.5m and a diameter of 2.7m.

Gortanimill, Co Cork

For my first megalith visit in Cork for a couple of years, I dropped by the Gortanimill stone circle, situated on the southern side of the Douglas river valley, and not too far from Macroom where I was heading.

There are twelve stones still here in this circle from a probable original thirteen, with heights ranging from 40 to 90cm and a diameter of 7.5m. Alignment is NNE-SSW. In the centre lies a quartz stone.












The view here is looking towards the Paps in County Kerry.

Cappaboy Beg, Co Cork

The four poster at Cappaboy Beg is a good walk uphill from the main road that links Kealkil to Ballingeary and to the west of the Pass of Keimaneigh.

The stones are located on boggy ground on a ridge above the Owvane valley.

The tallest stone here stands at 2.5m.

Kilmartin Lower, Co Cork

So I came to what really was the last stop of the day, the multiple stone circle at Kilmartin Lower, on the east side of the Dripsey River valley.

There are six stones still remaining in the circle, though one seems out of place. It's probable that there were originally seven stones here.

The stones in the circle range in height from 85cm to 110cm.

The diameter of the circle is 3.4m with the orientation being ENE/WSW. There is also an outlying standing stone just to the southwest of the axial stone, measuring 1.2m in height.

Thus ended an afternoon well spent in the Co Cork countryside.

Kilcullen South, Co Cork

As it was still early afternoon I decided to head to the stone circle at Kilmartin Lower, which is only a few miles from Rylane. On the way I spotted this pair of stones in a field on the north side of the Rylane valley at Kilcullen South.

The stone on the right below has faint ogham inscriptions on it.

Rylane, Co Cork

Not long after stopping at the ogham stone I came to my destination for the day, Rylane stone circle. The stones here sit in a field that lies to the southwest of the Rylane river, about 2km from the post office in the centre of the village.

The circle here is complete with the five stones all still upright. The stones are between 80-100cm in height and the diameter of the circle is 3.5m.

There are also a few other stones lying amongst those upright that don't appear to part of the circle. The orientation here is on a NE/SW axis.

An easy circle to get to as it's not a long walk from the road. Asking the local farmer for directions certainly saved a lot of time in finding this place, as it happened to be on his land.

Dromatimore, Co Cork

Heading nearer to Rylane took me through the parish of Aghabullogue, where I saw this ogham stone by St Olan's holy well. The stone used to be sited at Mountrivers, then was used as a footbridge over the nearby Delehinagh river before being moved to it's present location in 1851. The stone is 2.4m high.

Ballyvongane, Co Cork

After finishing a morning's work on the southern shore of the River Lee reservoir I thought I would cross over the bridge at Carrigadrohid and head for the stone circle at Rylane. With the route taking me through Ballyvongane, I stopped behind the school there to have a look in a field lying to the east of the Glashagarriff River valley, where this stone row is to be found.

The tallest of the stones here is 1.7m, whilst the alignment is ENE/WSW.

Barryshall, Co Cork

Early July took me to a job in Butlerstown, and as I knew there was a stone row at Barryshall near to the mouth of the Argideen River and I'd be passing near to it, I thought I'd have a look. As it turned out, I spotted what looks like two stone rows in the same field.

The two stones on the right of the picture are 1.2m and 2.65m high with an alignment NNE-SSW. The stones to the left are described on the National Monuments website as anomalous. I left the cattle in peace and didn't investigate further.

Glantane East, Co Cork

As I was off to work at the Mallow Show, I left home a little earlier to give myself enough time to look for some of the stones at Glantane East, a townland which lies just north of Carriganimmy, between Macroom and Millstreet. This stone row sits in a field above the Keel River valley. The stones range in height from 90cm to 2.4m,  and are aligned ENE-WSW.

Nearby is this stone circle. A sign attached to the fence that surrounds the field indicates that the 4m high tall stone was erected in 1994 at the same time as the other tall stone that is now lying on the ground. The circle sits within a fosse, which is unusual for Cork's stone circles.

The circle consists of five standing and six fallen stones. The diameter here is 4.5m.

The area here is quite rich in megalithic monuments, with a wedge tomb nearby and another stone circle to the south, which I'd already unsuccessfully spent valuable time looking for. Alas, I had to carry on to Mallow, but maybe I'll come back to Glantane East another day.

Cousane, Co Cork

The next stop was less than 1km away from Maughanaclea. The five stones in this circle are some of the shortest in County Cork, ranging from 40cm to 70cm in height.

The diameter here is 3.15m, the axis is E/W.

Last stop of the day was a quick look at the 1.8m tall standing stone at the Cousane Gap.

Maughanaclea, Co Cork

For over a decade I've driven down the Bantry line several times a week knowing that there were a few stone circles between Kealkil and the Cousane Gap. Back in May this year I finally took the right turn that would lead me towards the first circle, Maughanaclea SW. It was easy enough to find, a ten minute walk up a boreen and onto the northern slopes of the Maughnaclea Hills.

The five stones that make up the circle are accompanied by a standing stone that towers over them.

The alignment is ENE/WSW and the circle's diameter is about 2.5m. The standing stone is 2.7m tall.

Back to the Bantry Line, and just a few minutes heading east to a second circle in the townland. Maughanaclea E was even easier to find, being in a field beside a house just off from the road above the Owngar River Valley.

Twelve stones remain, five of these are prostrate. The stone srange in height from 0.8m to 1.6m, the circle diameter is 11.3m, the axis is NE/SW. I was informed by the house owner that several fallen stones had been re-erected thirty years or so previously.

Cabragh, Co Cork

Back in March I was passing through Clondrohid, four miles or so northwest of Macroom, and knowing of a stone circle at Cabragh, I thought I'd see if I could find it. I knew it was near to this stone row, which I found without too much difficulty just above the River Foherish.

There are four stones standing with another two lying prostrate. The tallest of the stones still upright is 2.2m, the length of the row is just short of 10m and the orientation is east/west.

I wandered around looking for the circle but couldn't find it. Later when I was home I looked at my notes and only then realised that I had actually seen some of it, one of its stones being just visible under the thorn tree mid-left in the top picture whilst the others have disappeared in the hedge under a mass of grass and brambles.

Knocks, Co Cork

A week ago I had to go to Dunmanway, and finding myself there with a bit of time to spare I went seven miles out of town on the Clonakilty road to look for some megaliths in Knocks. The first stop was just south of Ballingurteen in a field behind a shop, where I visited the Knocks N stone circle.

There are ten stones still standing from the original eleven and these stones range in height from 60cm to 1.1m.

The diameter of the circle is just short of 9m whilst the axis has an equinoctial alignment of east/west.

Heading southwest I saw this stone pair in a hedge on the brow of a hill overlooking the Argideen River. The taller stone is 2.2m high.

There are a few townlands in Co Cork that have two or more stone circles, Baurgorm and Carrigulla come to mind, and in Knocks there is a second circle known as Knocks S which is to be found just south of the stone pair in open pasture that the Argideen River flows through just 100m from the circle.

The stone circle would have originally consisted of nine or perhaps considering the layout of those still standing, eleven stones might be more likely. Now though there are only five remaining as well as a standing stone in the centre of the circle.

The stones in the circle range in height from 90cm to 1.45m, the stone in the centre of the circle is 1.15m high.

The diameter of this circle is 8.5m and its orientation is northeast/southwest.

Both the stone circles at Knocks are not hard to find and near to a road, so they made an easy and well worth excursion.

Cullomane West, Co Cork

As I was already at Baurgorm NE I thought I might as well have a look for the stone circle at Baurgorm SW. This proved unsuccesful, though I must have been close, as these stones at Cullomane West that I found on a slope in the Durrus River valley are located near to Baurgorm SW.

The stone row has three stones, one upright, one fallen and a leaning stone with a split, and the row is aligned northeast/southwest.

The standing stone is 2m high, and is just over 20m from the stone row.

Baurgorm, Co Cork

Heading north of Sprat Hill and to the south of Knocknaveagh, I next went to where I planned on making my last stop of the day, the stone circle and stone row at Baurgorm NE.

The stones in the circle range in height from 1m to 1.3m. The stone still standing in the stone row is 2m, whilst the fallen stone would have stood taller, measuring 3.3m.

The diameter is 2.45m, the axis is orientated northeast/southwest.