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It
is natural to think of Stone Circles belonging to
Stone Age culture but in fact, most Stone Circles
belong to the Bronze Age. The Drombeg Stone
Circle described here actually dates to the start
of the Iron Age, around 153BC
to 120AD.
The Drombeg Stone Circle - for height comparison,
my son is an inch or so shy of 6 feet.While in size, the Drombeg Stones do not
come close to competing with Stonehenge in
England, they are the best example of a Stone
Circle one can find in the County of Cork. The
circle is approximately 30 feet in diameter with
its longest stone topping out at just slightly
over 7 feet in height.
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plaque located at this site, there are 17
standing stones in the circle (Ok, I should of counted them, but I
didn't). Other's report
only 13 of the original stones are present. One
of the stones lies on its side, if I understand
properly; this stone is the axial stone. The two
tallest stones, standing side by side, are known
as the Portal Stones. |
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| More pages on
Drombeg Stone Circle: |
| Round
Huts and Fulacht Fiadh |
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| Outside Links:
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During
the winter solstice, if one stood between
the two tallest stones he/she would see
the sun setting on the horizon exactly at
the center of the axial stone. Just a few feet away from the
Stone circle are the ruins of two joined
round huts built sometime between the 2nd and 4th century.
Also on this site is a Fulacht
Fiadh ,a cooking hearth (dated between the 4th -7th century),
containing a stone
trough where hot stones were used to boil
water.
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The
ruins of a stone hut, a second stone huts
ruins set immediately to the right of
this ones. |
The presents of the
round huts and Fulacht Fiadh suggest this
site was inhabited, at least seasonally,
from the birth of Christ to the start of
the 7th Century.
Exactly what meaning the Stone Circles
had for the populous of this period is
open to speculation. Was the Stone Circle
simply a calendar device or did it have
spiritual significants for its creators
and the people that came after them? |
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Relationship
Disclosure
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