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This site is described as "stone circles" in Topographical Notes on the Barony of Coshlea, Co. Limerick, including Lackelly, the Lake District, Cenn Abrat, Claire, Tara Luachra, &c. by
P. J. Lynch (1920) RSAI
Rev Lynch, who from his paper I believe only viewed photos of the "circles" described them as follows ;
"The discovery of the stone circles on the eastern end of Slievereagh induced some writers to identify them as the remains of the residence or burial place of Olioll Olum." we skip on to "When I prepared the first plan of these circles I described them as probably two concentric circles outside the remains of a dolmen or cairn. I have given the question further consideration and changed my opinion somewhat. I have completed the outer circle (about 45 feet in diameter), when complete, could have rested within the "Benches" while the second "circle" and the stones inside of it, mark the base of a cairn about 26 feet in diameter, enclosing the tomb, of which the inner stones formed part.
There is no "Cromlech" (marked on OS Map) on the mountain. There are several blocks of stone resting on the rocky surface of the mountain; but as Dr. Fogerty writes "if a Cromleac is something built by human hands, there is none""
He then goes on to give a plan of the stone circles. If anyone has access to JSTOR you can find the plan here http://www.jstor.org/stable/25514569?seq=17.
However from looking at the remains up there I would say that the best these circles could be is the kerb of a cairn. Even at that most of the stones up here look to be naturally placed rather.
The notice board in Glenbrohane mentions that the "King's Chair" can be found amonst the rocks of the cairn. I'm not sure which stones they refer to but I've taken a photo of what I thought looked most chair like.
The walk to the top follows a marked path for a lot of it and then swings off on a forestry path up to the antena on top. Views from here are great into the plains of Limerick to the north.
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This standing stone is only about 400mm high and is very unimpressive. You would have to wonder about it possibly being a broken scratching post or something like that. The only thing in its support is the two larger stone in the vicinity.
You can just make out the pilon where the other stone is located in the distance.
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I spotted the other large standing stone in this townland by accident while driving by but did not spot this one until I saw it on Philip Powells website. Its a tall (approx 1.6m high) "sail shaped" stone.
The power- pilon above it is a real contrast. Surprisingly this stone doesnt appear on the either of the 1840s survey maps.
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I always thought I knew about a lot of the limerick having travelled most by-roads looking for stones and also driving around it with work.
However I never spotted this "megalithic structure" as it is described on www.archaeology.ie until i saw it on Philip Powells website.
It looks like the remains of either a cist or some part of a megalithic tomb. Locally its know as the cromlech. However even the local information board located in Glenbrohane gives very little info about it other than US Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith visited it in 1997! Hope they took her to see a few other sites as well.
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I was under the impression that this bullaun stone had only been rediscovered in the last few years. However this map http://www.visitclare.net/gfx/HImonastic.jpg relating to Macalister shows it clearly and I under this dates back to 1916-17.
I've grew up on the other side of the lake and some of my early memories are of heading out to picnics on this island.
However it was only last year when I got a boat over, from local tour Mountshannon guide Ger Madden (he gave me a lovely tour pamplet to review which showed this bullaun) that I knew of this particular bullaun.
From the eastern landing site you will need wellies to walk along the shore-line until you come to this bullaun.
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Again Broadford is probably your closest town. This tomb is in a long forestry track. I wouldn't recommend it in an ordinary car. Again I visited this as part of the May 2011 megameet.
The tomb itself is in good condition and there appears to be remains of the mound surrounding the tomb also. It is approx 3.5m long by 1.5m wide.
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I visited this as part of a mini megalithomeet in May 2011. Megalithic enthusist Marianne had taken it upon herself to clean up this tomb and that is why it was in such great shape in this photo.
It is relatively easy to find, it is about two small fields in from the road climbing over a set of gates. There is a good bit of room to park at the gateway entrance.
The tomb itself is about 4-5 metres long by approx 1.5m high.
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From the North Tipp Archaeological Inventory "Description: Situated in a modern coniferous plantation on a SW-facing slope of poorly drained land in an upland region with good views in all directions. An impressive standing stone (H 1.9m; 0.98m x 0.47m) which is rectangular in plan and shape with its long axis orientated NW-SE and tapering towards the top."
This is a very hard standing stone to find. It is situated in a clearing in the middle of a coniferous forestry plantation. It took me two very wet attempts at finding but is well worth it. As you can see in the pictures the top of the stone is tapered. Due to the trees all around we can't see whether this "tapering" is addressing anything in particular but I would suggest that it is likely to be pointing towards the Maherslieve mt which would be viewable from here. The majority of the wedge-tombs in this area are in view of the Mothers Mountain or Maherslieve.
As above the stone itself is almost 2m high.
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Another site in impressive surrounds. This standing stone at the end of a road that is a cul de sac up in these mountains. There is a viewing sport with a carpark and the stone is less than 500m from the standing stone. I understand there is some very beautiful scenery in the hills around here for hill-walking.
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This impressively situated pair of standing stones are at the end of a track leading from a sheep farmers farmyard / house. This is real sheep farming company so not really the kind of place for bringing a dog.
The standing stones are both about 1.8m high. On fourwinds website it reckons it found signs of an unrecorded stone circle in the vicinity.
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A small (in height) stone row of redish sandstone (I think). It may be that some of the height is lost in the bog below. It is signposted from the nearby stone circle.
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This stone circle is situated in the beautiful Nire Valley. The Valley is a real hidden gem south of Clonmel town. The drive from the Bulmers factory in Clonmel over the mountains down into the valley is like being transported to another world only 10 minutes from (realitive) civilisation.
There is a forest path all the way to the circle is it is easy to find. Im not sure if I would drive all the way in, I parked at the edge of the forestry and walked about 15mins to it.
This site seems to be visited quite a bit from the fire that had been made in the middle of it. You may not want to meet the people that did this.
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Excavation at this circle showed that this was probably a circle of 11 or 13 stonees but not all the sockets were identified during the excavation.
The track here is part of the 'Old Green Road', I only walked the part here but if all the views are as breathtaking as up here it is a walk Id definitely recommend. There is a fabulous rock outcrop here with views down into the bay underneath.
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