More Stone Circles - the Beara Peninsula

We really can’t get enough of these ancient stone features! But first, we wanted to see Eyeries, a town where the residents have all decided to paint their homes and businesses in cheery vibrant colors.

Next up was the Ballycrovane Ogham Stone. At over 15 feet tall, it is the tallest known Ogham stone, carved in the 4th–6th century AD. Ogham is an ancient Irish alphabet and is the earliest written source for the Irish language. The carvings were barely visible to us.

A little ways up the road was the Ardgroom Stone Circle, reached by walking through a farmer’s sheep and cow pasture. Stone circles are made up of an uneven number of free standing stones—varying from 5 to 17. The stone circle at Ardgroom once consisted of 11 stones. One stone is now missing and one has fallen.

We had to skip the Cashelkeelty stone circle because there was just no place to put the car on the very narrow road. So we headed into Gleninchaquin Park for a nice hike among spectacular views of lakes, valleys and a massive waterfall. No rain, but very humid, and lots of annoying flies near the top.

Not far from the park is the Uragh Stone Circle, made up of four low stones and a massive, 10-foot tall fifth stone. Set against a backdrop of mountains, lakes and the waterfall at Gleninchaquin Park, this circle was one of the highlights of our Neolithic explorations!Read more