Stone row

The National Monuments Service's description

This monument was discovered by Michael O’Sullivan, Dooroy, Clonbur, Co. Galway, who brought Eamon Cody, NMS, to see it in 1999. Eamon did not have OS maps with him, and was unable to record a precise location. An inspection in 2017 established the exact location.

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Located an area of damp, rough pasture of rushes, sedges and upland grasses, on the lower SE-facing slopes of the Partry Mountains. The location provides extensive views over the western shores of Lough Mask, with the skyline at S−SW dominated by the dramatic ridges of Maumtrasna Mountain.

This stone row consists of three close-set stones in a NNE−SSW row, 3.8m in total length. The two outermost stones are earth-fast and upright, with their long axes mirroring that of the row as a whole. The middle stone lies prostrate on the ground surface, and at odds with the alignment of the row. All three stones appear to be gneiss, a local stone type.
SW stone (L 0.58m NNE−SSW; T 0.35-0.4m; H 0.55m): roughly oval in cross-section; the top at the N end forms a small peak.
Middle stone (L 1.15m N−S; Wth c. 0.25m; T c. 0.25m): This lies on the ground surface in a slight hollow. It appears rather angular and sharp-edged in form, differing from the more rounded shape of the two upright stones. It is 0.7m to NNE of the SW stone.
NE stone (L 0.66m NNE−SSW; T 0.36m; H 0.35m): a straight-sided, relatively flat-topped stone, sub-rectangular in cross-section. It is 1m NNE of the middle stone.
The stones in this row are low and unobtrusive, barely visible when viewed from even a relatively close distance. The original status of the prostrate stone within the row is unknown.

There is a cairn (MA116A006002-) 4.8m to S. Another stone row (MA116A005001-) and a ringbarrow (MA116A005002-) are located on an elevation 300m to ENE.

Images:
MA116A006001-_01.JPG viewed from S
MA116A006001-_02.JPG viewed from NE, with cairn (MA116A006002-) at left.
MA116A006001-_03.JPG viewed from N

Compiled by: Jane O’ Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 5 October 2017