This was a surprise! I suppose I was expecting a straight forward stone circle. I was probably expecting to find a ruined one too. However what I came across here was far more interesting, for this is no ordinary stone circle - it is a cove! Similar to the one at Stanton Drew and Avebury in England. What is this doing here!?
The 'circle' consists of 3 large and equal slabs measuring 1.8m wide by at least 1.6m tall. These are set at right angles to each other and form three sides of a cube. They are set far enough apart to eliminate them being the sides of a portal tomb chamber .
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. |