Cortial : Rock Art
Visit Notes
Sunday, 7th October 2007
After parking at the gate to the field where this rock art is and seeing a heavily quarried rock outcrop my heart sank. I knew that there were still some carvings there, because Ken Williams had visited the site recently, but the sight of so much damage to a carved outcrop and the potential loss of carvings is terrible.
After trudging up the very muddy and cow-patty track I started scouring the remaining surfaces for motifs. The rock, like Drumgonnelly (County Louth) and Drumsinnot (County Louth), is covered with natural cup marks, so spotting a worn design is very difficult. However, eventually I managed to find one very eroded cup-and-ring motif with three rings. This is at the extreme west end of the outcrop. This does not seem to be part of the group of motifs shown in the Louth Survey, so there could be more hidden below the areas of rock that are now covered by a thin layer of grass.
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A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
3.2 Km (SSE) there is a Standing Stone at Rathiddy known as Cuchulain's Stone.
9.5 Km (ENE) there is a Portal Tomb at Proleek.
7.6 Km (NE) there is a Passage Tomb at Faughart Lower.
3.9 Km (ENE) there is a Carved Head at Castletown.
A Selection of Other Rock Art
 Aghacaribble (Co. Kerry) |  Fananierin (Co. Wicklow) |  Burren (Co. Cavan) |
 Rathgeran Lower (Co. Carlow) |  Carrigeenduff (Co. Wicklow) |  Carrigeenshinnagh (Co. Wicklow) |
About Coordinates Displayed
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This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the coordinates I provide. Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate. Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies. The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM coordinates are slightly out. UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator - that is at the core of the GPS system. ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps. |
