Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Rock art
Letter West, County Kerry, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Letter West
- County
- Kerry
- Country
- Ireland
- Coordinates
- 52.01433, -10.01130
- SMR number
- KE071-185----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1753 map "Mappa geographica Regni Hiberniae" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1753 · Mappa geographica Regni Hiberniae (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
In mountain heath (170m OD), on a NE-facing slope, to NW of stream. Good views overlooking Behy River valley to NE and overlooked by mountains SE->W->NW. A smooth and fractured sandstone (dims. 2.10m NE-SW; 0.94m NW-SE; max. H 0.76m at N) which is subrectangular in plan. It has an irregular decorated surface (dims. 0.90m NE-SW; 0.90m NW-SE) with a sharp SE-facing aspect. The rock art design upon this stone is highly decorative, albeit very faint and weathered. The pattern consists of a long, central curvilinear groove (L 1.05m; Wth 1.5-2.5cm; D 4mm) with four shorter off-shoot curvilinear grooves to N side. The main groove terminates in the largest cupmark (dims. 7cm x 8cm; D 4mm) and two off-shoot grooves finish in smaller cupmarks; two others finish in a cup-and-one-ring motif. The southern-most of the cup-and-ring motifs (diam. 10cm; cupmark diam. 5cm; D 6mm; ring Wth 1.5cm; D 3mm) is best preserved. A single cup-and-one ring motif and a tiny cupmark are adjacent to S of the central curvilinear groove. A further two cupmarks with radial grooves are also adjacent to S. Rock art (KE071-184----) is c. 2.5m to S.
Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly
Date of upload: 26 January 2018
Nearby in the register
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.