Spotting this site is quite easy. Reaching it is a little more tricky. If you park at Staigue Bridge (where the road to the fort bends left and The Kerry Way continues up a track over the bridge) and look through the hedgerow away from the road you will see the rocky outcrop about 150m in front of you. To reach it go to the far side of the bridge and walk down the side of it, jump the stream, climb over the fence and wall and walk to the rock. The carvings are on the very top at the far side.
The surface is split into three sections by two parallel natural cracks that run across it. The area between these is carved and the section to the south has some markings on it. The motifs here are unusual variations on quite common themes.
They mainly consist of cups with single rings around them, for instance, one of the rings is massive: around 40cm across with a single cup at its centre. The central panel has a group of cup and ring motifs but there is a straight line joining some of them making a flower-like design.
This is a beautiful piece of art, which seems able to touch you inside - a common link formed by the flower-like pattern that perhaps is missing from other, more abstract seeming rock art. If you go to Staigue Fort then try and stop off and see this slab. You won't be disappointed and, to be brutally honest, this is far more interesting than the cashel up the road!
All Sites Visited On 16th January 2005 « Previous Site Next Site »
A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
Burren (Co. Cavan) | Onagh (Co. Wicklow) | Spahill 3 (Co. Carlow) |
Rathgeran Upper (Co. Carlow) | Carrigeenduff (Co. Wicklow) | Derrynablaha 4 (Co. Kerry) |