Visited 11th August 2004: On our way back from Iona I persuade Louise that we should pop in and see a few standing stones. Fionnphort was the first we came to, and at the point when we arrived the rain was torrential.
What I should have done was ask at the house for permission to take some photos of the stone. Instead I wound the car window down and took some hurried photos from the relative dry of the driver's seat. Yes, I know, this is not in the spirit of things at all. The stone looks rather pleasant as a sort of garden feature. It's an elegant monolith.
Visited 11th August 2004: Tiraghoil was the second stone we came to heading east. I left the others in the car (the rain had subsided a bit) and made my way to the stone. This is a large lump of rock, much bigger than
Fionnphort. It has quite a presence to it. With the weather as it was the stone did a good job looking immoveable (sort of, "I ain't budging!"). The lichen hair might have been what suckered me into thinking of the stone as human.
Visited 11th August 2004: Taoslin is accessible over a small stile. It's a hefty lump of rock, with large packing stones around the base of it. It's a lot smaller than
Tiraghoil and far less elegant than
Fionnphort. On my visit the hollow around the base of the stone was full of water, forming quite an aesthetically pleasing pond. The reflection of the stone in the water was great. I wonder whether Taoslin is the real deal though? Those packing stones can't be original. They're far too large, and inexpertly placed.