There are some places that do strange things to you, and this is one of them. A beautiful circle, just 14m in diameter, set in a sheltered glade. Of the 18 original slab-like stones only 11 remain upright, one or two lie on the ground, the rest are gone or buried.
There are two much larger stones (probably the entrance) facing slightly north of west, so probably a sunset on summer equinox (I think) alignment. The center of the circle is bear grass surrounded by bracken and it truly is beautiful. I stood with my arms open wide soaking up the sun on my face in awe.
The strange things I spoke of earlier were that I was overcome with the urge to strip and run around the circle forever. I just settled for running around the circle several times, dancing and shouting like a madman.
I want to keep this place all to myself, to be selfish and greedy but I simply can't. Go there and enjoy, go there and experience this circle. If you meet a bearded loony running around naked, it may be me on one of my revisits (which will be frequent). Don't forget to say hello.
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_All Sites Visited On 28th October 2001 « Previous Site Next Site »
Revisited to show a friend, an attempt (successful) to visit four circles in a day ( The Piper's Stones (County Wicklow), Castleruddery Lower (County Wicklow), Boleycarigeen & Broadleas (County Kildare)). This place is still magical !!
All Sites Visited On 18th November 2001 « Previous Site Next Site »
After the ease of reaching Athgreany and Castleruddery a visit here is always special. The slow walk up the hill through the woods always adds a little suspense, especially when taking someone there for the first time.
My companions were as impressed as I was when I first found this exquisite little circle. I just wish that the views could be restored to it.
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_All Sites Visited On 14th April 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
Massively over grown and with the stones hidden this is still a wnderful place. Anyway, we found a great way of quickly clearing the bracken to allow us to see the stones clearly. Lie down and roll all over it. Great fun! but it helps if you know that there are no big stones on the ground.
All Sites Visited On 27th September 2002 « Previous Site Next Site »
This is a good time of year to visit. For one thing you are certain not to meet anyone up here (you rarely do anyway!), but also the bracken is all dead and the circle fully visible.
Snow fell while we were here, like loads of big fluffy fairies. It didn't last long or stick though.
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_It was with some surprise that the trees on the slopes below the circle have been cleared away, especially as I woke up on Thursday morning with the odd feeling that this was the case.
The walk up from the track to the circle, up the sun-dappled slopes beneath the towering pines, used to be a special part of any trip here, but now this section of it is like a warzone: the tumbled corpses of mightly trees lie scattered about, while their orange, mechanichal conquerers sit amongst them gloating. They haven't quite reached as far up the slope as the circle yet, but it's only a matter of time.
When this does happen the views will once again be open for a few years until the newly planted trees once again block the views. I'll be back in a few weeks to see if the views are opened up yet and hopefully I will be able to see what should be seen from this ridgetop spot.
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_OK. Who's been messing with this circle then? Several stones have been disturbed and severl seem to have been added to fill the gaps! There really are some idiots out there! I suppose they think they're adding to the site in some misguided way.
Apart from that little annoyance we (myself and the photographer Ken Williams) were here for some late afternoon/twilight shots of the circle. This had the advantage of allowing me to confirm something I've long wondered about - the alignment of the circle's axis. I can now say that it does align with the winter solstice sunset! If the trees weren't there to block most of the effect it would be truly spectacular!
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_Due to rain and low cloud stopping me climb nearby Keadeen Mountain I thought I'd check if the trees had been cleared from around the circle, but they haven't. It looks like the recent 'tail-ends of hurricanes' may have felled a couple of trees, though. Luckily, none of these fell into the circle.
I took a few photos in order to have a go at producing some stereo images. If they worked I will post them up, so have your 3-D glasses handy!
| Esther from London |  |
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_From Hacketstown take the R747 north to Kiltegan. At the cross roads carry straight on north (leaving R747). Continue, going over the next crossroads until you reach a fork in the road. Take the right hand road. After about 1.3km you come to a track on the left leading into the woods with a parking area on the right. Park and follow the track through the woods for about 250m. Then head up into the woods through the trees and head for the ridge. Keep looking out for the bright spot in the trees created by the clearing as this is the only way to identify the location.
This stone circle is also known as the 'Griddle Stones'.
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
 Trawlebane (Co. Cork) |  Shronebirrane (Co. Kerry) |  Cartronbane (Co. Longford) |
 Gurteen (Co. Kerry) |  Glanbrack (Co. Cork) |  Cashelkeelty 1 (Co. Kerry) |
