An Leac Mhor & Doire Fínín

9th January 2015

An Leac Mhór (Lack More) standing stone. 2.1 m tall aligned NE-SW.
Just up the road is Doire Fhínín (Derryfineen) standing stone - a whopping 3.35m tall
Second stone at Doire Fhínín, a couple of fields down from the first one. This stone stands at just over 3m high. It's slowly disappearing under the brambles and bracken !
An Leac Mhór - Big flat stone or rock
Doire Fhínín - Fínín's Oak wood.

Bweeng

6th January 2015.
First chance this year to get out and see some stones. We had some lovely sunshine, as we headed up to North Cork. As usual, we didn't see everything we wanted - time as always goes too quick, but did manage to see An Seisar, Glandine and Nursetown Beg stones, all of which are in the Bweeng area, and Laharankeal standing stone, Deelish standing stone and Oughtihery Stone Circle on the way home.

An Seisar stone row. Also known as Beenalaght stone row (after the Townland which it is in), is just South of the delightfully named village of Bweeng.
There is a place to pull in (a forestry entrance), a few hundred metre South of the row. Walk along the very busy main road until the farm gate at the bottom of the field. The row is clearly visible at the top end of the long field. Luckily, there  is no livestock in the field,so I just wander up. The row has six large stones, Five still standing and one fallen. Sizes range from 2.9m to 1.9m making it an impressive row. The alignment is the usual NE-SW.

Carrying on towards Bweeng, there is a sharp left hand turn, which leads us to the Glandine Stone pair near Monkeys Bridge. Two large stones aligned NE-SW. The larger stone is 2.8m high and the smaller 2.5m.

Back to Bweeng - carry on up the R619 to Dromahane, where a sharp right will eventually lead to the Stone pair at Nursetown Beg. One stone has fallen and the other leans heavily and is propped by another small rock. The standing stone is 2.65m high

Oughtihery stone circle. One of two circles in the townland. This is the more Eastern one. Five stones (including the recumbant and one of the portal stones) remain out of a probable seven. It is aligned ENE-WSW. The last time we came here, the field was full of Corn or Barley and the circle wasn't even visible. Luckily, this time it's just stubble. I'm not too sure what all the wooden crosses are about though !!

On the way back, we notice a Standing stone at Laharankeal. This one is aligned E-W and stands at 2.5m in height

A few fields further on from the previous stone,in the adjoining Townland of Deelish stands this small stone. Standing at just 0.8m and also aligned E-W

Beenalaght - Binn na Leacht - peak of the grave
An Seisar - The Six
Glandine - Gleann Doimhin - Deep Glen
Nursetown Beg - Baile na Banaltran Beag
Oughtihery - Ucht Fhoithre
Laharankeal - An Leathfearrann Ceol
Deelish - Duílis - Black enclosure (ring fort)

Out in the wilds - Cullenagh stone row, Farnanes & Cloonygorman

15th December 2014

The sun is shining once again and we are heading up to the wilds on the Eastern side of Nowen Hill between Castle Donovan and Dunmanway.

First, we are looking for the stone row in Cullenagh Townland. It's not the easiest to find, but after passing the ruined circle at Cullenagh, go past the left hand lane and on a few hundred metres just past where the forestry ends on the right hand side. There is a dilapidated old metal gate and you can just about fit a car in at the side of the road just beyond it. Back at the gate - it's easier to go through the wire - though the first few steps the other side are somewhat wet !. Carrying on uphill, the going is boggy but easy enough. A Snipe flushes and zig zags off, giving it's squelching call as it goes. 

The row eventually comes into sight and it's a beauty ! Three stones set NE-SW overlook the Clodagh Valley and Nowen Hill is prominent across the valley.

The stones vary in height. The largest at 1.8m is at the SW end, the middle is 1.4m and the NE stone is the smallest at 1.2m. Apparently, according to the NMS, there was a fourth stone set just West of the middle stone (shown on the OS 1842 map). There is no sign of it now.

This is a must see site, definitely one of my favourites.

Back at the car, we carry on past the lake, then take a left, which leads to the Mealagh Valley.

The road crosses the infant River Bandon, and in the meadow on the left sits an impressive standing stone. This is Farnanes standing stone.

There's a pull in to park and an extremely muddy track leads into the field.

The stone is 2m tall and is aligned NE-SW. Nowen Hill is of course very prominent to the South West.

Next, we carry on into the Mealagh Valley, looking for the standing stone at Cloonygorman.

It sits in a field by a small house, looking very forlorn, in need of a bit of pruning !

This one is 1.6 high x 1.8 x 0.7.

There is a second stone in the Townland, but as usual, time is running out for us again, so it will have to be for a future visit.