Decorated stone (present location)

The National Monuments Service's description

This stone was found in 1908 by a group of men hunting ferrets near Hollywood, Co. Wicklow. It was lying face down at the edge of a grassy lane at Lockstown Upper (WI016-017----). It consists of a boulder (dims. c. 1.2m by 0.9m and 0.8m thick) carved with a labyrinth design (diam. c. 0.7m). A small section of the labyrinth is missing where a section was broken from the stone: this had been done prior to its discovery. The labyrinth appears to have been carved using the classical seed pattern and it is not known which way the labyrinth was intended to be viewed though it seems probable that it may been positioned so that its opening was at the bottom. The exact purpose of this stone is unknown though it seems likely that it had some connection with the pilgrimage to Glendalough and may have been used as a marker or station along the route where pilgrims stopped to pray. The labyrinth design has been replicated as a landscape feature in front of the Visitor Centre. (Orpen 1911; Price and Walshe 1933, 48)

See attached screenshot of 3D model of rock art created by Wicklow Rock Art Project, School of Archaeology, University College Dublin under the direction of Dr. Clíodhna Ní Lionáin. Photogrammetric 3D rock art model can be accessed at the following website: https://skfb.ly/zWJX

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 25 February 2014

References

Price, L. and Walshe, P.T. 1933 Stone and Bronze Age antiquities of the barony of Lower Talbotstown, Co. Wicklow with a description of the excavation of Haylands Mote, near Blessington. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 63, 46-67.

Orpen, G. 1911 Carved stone near Holywood, Co. Wicklow. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 41, 183-5.