Like the other Punchestown (County Kildare) stone this is enormous. Looking across the field at it it is hard to judge the size. It stands about 4m tall and is quite thick at its base tapering to a point.
It leans slightly to one side and glowing in the sunshine looked like a huge finger pointing west.
I revisited this site on to retake the photos on the way to Baltracey (County Kildare).
With the crops gone from the field we managed to reach this great stone. It might not be as tall or as slim as the more famous stone (see Punchestown (County Kildare) ), but it is still wonderfully massive. Like the other stone it has a diagonal band of quartz running through it - a comon theme amongst the west coast stones.
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_This was not such a pleasant visit this time around. The field was very, very muddy and our shoes were caked when we got back to the car. The image of the plough lines diverging around the stone though were very picturesque.
From Naas head south down the R411. At the first major cross road turn left and park at the race course entrance. The stone is in the field on the opposite side of the road.
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. |