Passage tomb art (present location)

The National Monuments Service's description

Stone (H 4'5"; Wth 1'3" / L 1.36m x Wth 0.39m x T 0.08m) decorated with spirals, chevrons and serpentiform lines in the manner of passage tomb art (O'Kelly 1949, 8-10). Discovered c. 1880 during field clearance on Cape Clear Island and removed to Sherkin Island where it was re-discovered in 1945; presented to UCC and now in Cork Public Museum. Possibly associated with passage tomb (CO153-010---) to SE (O'Leary 1989, 124-6). Original location record CO153-008----.

Decorated stone described by O'Kelly (1949, 8-10) as follows; 'The decorated stone here described, first came to light some seventy-five years ago. It was found when stones were being cleared from a field in the townland of Glen, in Clear Island off the coast of Co. Cork. The stone is a fairly straight-sided slab of grey-green coarse-grained slate, its maximum dimensions being 4' 5" [1.34m] high, 1' 3" [0.38m] wide and 3" [0.07m] thick. It is decorated on one face only and the ornament appears to have covered the greater part of the surface. However, a large thin lamina has been flaked off the lower third of the stone carrying with it portion of the design. The decorated face is smooth and the ornament which was executed in a pock technique (possibly the lines were rubbed afterwards), is deeply scored and very clearly visible. The design consists of spirals, chevrons and serpentiform lines, the ends of the various devices often running right to the edges of the slab. At the top a single zig-zag or chevron runs horizontally across the face. Down along the left-hand edge of the face are 3 groups of V-shaped marks ; the uppermost of these is triple, the second is double and the third is single. The centre of the face is occupied by three separate spirals. The first and third of these are made up of single lines, while the centre one is based on a double line. All three are turned in 'the same direction and twist in a clockwise direction from their outside edges inwards towards their centres. The right-hand edge of the face contains a double zig-zag which towards its lower end degenerates into a crude serpentiform. The motifs clearly belong to the passage-grave group of carvings and can be paralleled at Newgrange, Bryn Celli Ddu, Gavr' Iinis'.

To see a 3D model of this stone visit: https://skfb.ly/6nwnU

See attached drawing of stone taken from O'Kelly 1949, 9 and photographs of stone taken from Cork City County Council website https://www.corkcity.ie/en/cork-public-museum/exhibitions/our-archaeological-collections/pre-history/cape%20clear%20stone%20.html

Compiled by: Archaeological Survey Unit, UCC.

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 25 August 2022

References

O'Leary, P.J. 1989 A passage tomb on Clear Island in West Cork. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 94, 124-6.

O'Kelly, M.J. 1949 An example of passage-grave art from Co. Cork. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 54, 8-10.