Rock art

The National Monuments Service's description

Rock art recorded in 1913 and described as a 'good specimen of concentric circle and cup ornamentation, incised on a large block of millstone grit. The stone is of rather regular shape and not native of this district. It is 34 inches [0.86m] across, 19 inches [0.48m] in height, and 10 inches [0.25m] thick. The outermost of the concentric circles of which there are three, is 11 inches [0.28m] in diameter, the other 7 [0.17m] and 5 inches [0.12m]. The inside of the smallest circle is cup-hollowed to a depth of about 1 inch. Running through the lower part of the circles is a radial groove, which, however, might tend to show that it was not a cist cover. On the left are two diagonal grooves. There are five cup markings at the top right-hand corner, and two others near the top, over the circles. Some years ago this stone was taken from the adjoining field and used in the erection of the wall [right side of Ballymahon Road], the mason placing it with the carved side inwards. In more recent time the wall requiring to be rebuilt, the carved side was turned outwards to face the road' (Tuite 1913, 180-1). The stone was subsequently removed from the wall by a Mr. Donohoe who lived in a farmhouse on the other side of the wall, and who took the stone to his cottage were it was placed beside his doorway (ibid, 182).
This stone is recorded by O’Reilly (2010, 77-8) as follows: ‘The stone at Ballinlug was first reported in a paper by James Tuite in 1913 and is the earliest recorded rock art find in Co. Westmeath. This stone was discovered built into a wall by the side of the Ballymahon-Rathconrath road; it had originally been located in a nearby field before being incorporated into the wall. After the importance of the stone was realised it was moved again and stood in the yard of a cottage on the other side of the wall. The stone is today located close to its original findspot but is hidden in dense undergrowth on top of a rubble bank. When located by the author in August 2009 it was entirely covered in moss. The Ballinlug stone is of millstone grit — a type of sandstone — and measures approximately 87cm x 48cm x 26cm. The decoration consists of a large cup-and-ring motif with three concentric circles, the largest of which measures 28cm in diameter surrounding a central cup-mark 6cm in diameter and 2.5cm deep. Radial grooves run out from the central cup-mark through the upper and lower portions of the concentric rings. On the top right-hand comer of the stone are between three and five smaller concavities and two others above the circles; these may be further small cup-marks or natural solution hollows.’

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 20 December 2018

References

Tuite, J. 1913 Concentric circle and cup-marked stone in Westmeath. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 43, 180-2.

O'Reilly, D. 2010 Some forgotten prehistoric rock art from the hill of Uisneach, Co. Westmeath. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 140, 75-82.