This majestic stone sits at the rear of a building site. New houses springing up around it. The builders seem to have been very careful about keeping clear of it, which makes a change. The stone is about 1.3m high and 80 cm square in section. Obviously a lot of ambience and magik is lost from this stone because of its current setting.
As I was passing I decided to pop by and see how this stone had faired since I was last here 3 years ago. When I was last here it was on the edge of a housing development. Now it is the centre-piece for a soon-to-be communal green in a small estate.
It's hard to tell if the stone has been moved due to the surrounding houses blocking a view to any point of reference. It seems to be in the same spot, but now it is reaised up above the road level some 1.5m. How much ground lowering went on here I don't know.
From the N1/M1 take the R132 north into Balrothery. At the cross roads turn right and the take the second left. After 150m you should see a new housing development on your right. The stone is right at the back of this.
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. |