Drombeg Stone Circle and Fulacht Fiadh
Southwest Ireland | County Cork
Drombeg is a fine example of a recumbent stone circle located about 2.5 km east of Glandore, in west County Cork. It has about 9 m in diameter and consists of 17 stones of which 13 are original. The entrance, situated from the north-east side is marked by pair of tallest stones (the portal stones) and together with recumbent stone, which is placed opposite, it creates straight line with setting sun at the day of winter solstice on 21st of December. The stones reduce in height from the portals to the recumbent which has two shallow cup marks on its upper surface, one surrounded by an oval carving. Drombeg was excavated and restored in 1957 and during this research they found pottery vessel containing cremated remains of young adolescent. More recently, radiocarbon dating has placed the burial in the period circa 1100-800 BC. Close to the stone circle are the remains fulacht fiadh, an ancient cooking place also called burned-stones mound. It's a stone trough, where hot stones from nearby hearth were placed to heat the water. Experiments have taken during excavation showed that 300 litres of cold water could be brought to the boil in 18 minutes and remained sufficiently hot for almost 3 hours. It is suggested that its main use was cooking meat, but there are also theories that it was used for bathing, textile dyeing or even brewing.
- OPENING HOURS AND TICKETS :
- Freely accessible
- CAR PARK :
- Roadside