Breeny More : Stone Circle

CountyCork
Grid RefW 051 552
GPSW 05082 55223
Longitude9° 22' 27.61" W
Latitude51° 44' 29.27" N
ITM east480366
ITM north584435
Nearest TownBantry (8.2 Km)
OS Sheet85
UTM zone29U
UTM x449041
UTM y5761192
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Visit Notes

Sunday, 5th September 2004

I don't know why I didn't visit this site when I was last at Kealkil (County Cork), but this time I made sure I did. There is very little of the stone circle remaining - just the portal stones and the axial stone, which has fallen. The remaining uprights are around 1.5m tall. The site is located on the edge of a steep drop away to the northwest.

This site's main feature is the presence of four boulder burials in what would have been the centre of the circle. These are placed two by two along the central axis of the circle. All four capstones are very equal in size and shape and the aesthetic effect is beautiful.

I think it would have been possible to see the tall stones of the row at Kealkil (County Cork) from here, but trees from modern hedgerows hide it now. Like Kealkil there are amazing views over the valley and out to Bantry Bay and Whiddy Island. Don't let the poor state of the circle put you off coming here it's aa great site.

Stones circles, put quite simply, are rings of standing stones, although not all of them are cicular, many being eliptical. Many have definite layout plans and often stone circles in one region share a similar style, e.g. Cork features many axial stones circles, where a recumbent stones faces an apparent entrance into the circle (see Drombeg (County Cork)).

They are the most well known of megalithic monuments and the ones most likely to capture anyone's imagination. Many theories exist about the original purpose of these enigmatic structures, the most popular (and at times most controversial) one is that they were built as astronomical observatories, many having apparent solar alignments with the sunrise and sunsets at the solstices and equinoxes. Lunar and star alignments have also ben noted.

No matter what the exact purpose it is certain that they played a significant role in the ritual or religious lives of the builders. One thing that nearly everyone has in common is that they are located in the most dramatic of places, usually offering unrivalled views.

Quite often other monuments, such as alignments, cairns, boulder burials or outliers, are to be found in close proximity to stone circles.

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Like this monument

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About Coordinates Displayed

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.

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