Wakeman's handbook of Irish antiquities

by W. F. Wakeman

Stones of the Circle at Newgrange.

Stone Circles.​—​Stone circles of great magnitude are to be seen in many parts of Ireland. Of the lesser kind numerous examples occur in various counties, and particularly in the north and north-west. They are invariably composed of rough unhewn blocks, varying in height from 2 to 11 feet, or more, above the level of the adjoining land; and in some instances they are encompassed with a low earthen mound or ditch. Their area, though often apparently unoccupied, is generally found to contain one or other of the remains already described​—​a cromlech, a tumulus or cairn, a smaller circle, a pillar-stone, cists. Human bones, cinerary urns, ashes, weapons, implements or ornaments of bone or flint, or other objects, are invariably discovered within these enclosures upon the earth being disturbed. The remains of a cremated body were sometimes deposited in a cist, with or without an urn to contain them, and the site marked with a circle of standing stones or a single pillar. It is difficult now to determine the exact significance of the stone circle round the mound or burial-place. Aristotle makes an interesting allusion to the erection of stone circles round burial sites: ‘Among the Iberians, who are a military people, it is the custom to set round the tomb of a deceased warrior a number of obelisks corresponding to the number of enemies he has killed.’[54] The last resting-place of the dead has, however, at all times been looked upon as more or less sacred; and Christian burial-places are especially consecrated for the purpose, and protected from intrusion. The custom of raising a stone circle round a dolmen or cist containing burial remains has been a general one; and examples are found as far off as Syria and Arabia similar to the megalithic structures of the British Isles. The desire to protect and honour the remains of the illustrious dead has existed in all lands, and has shown itself in the production of the most remarkable monuments that the world has known. The megalithic structures of western Europe, the elaborately decorated tombs of the Mycenæan Age, the rock-tombs of Etruria, the Egyptian pyramids, and the magnificent monuments of India abundantly testify to the respect for the dead in the mind of man everywhere throughout past ages.

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Circle at Newgrange.​—​It is impossible within the limits of this Handbook to do more than briefly indicate a few typical examples of the many stone circles scattered throughout the country. The stones which encompass the monuments of Newgrange and Dowth are generally very large, some of them measuring 8 or 9 feet in height. The engraving (p. 123) represents a portion of the circle at the former place, of which a description has already been given. There are several minor examples in the same neighbourhood, but they are in a state of great dilapidation, and, with one exception, would hardly repay a student for the time occupied in visiting them, particularly as the grander remains at Newgrange are so accessible.

Remains of Stone Circle near Dowth.

Portions of a fine circle, or rather oval, lie a little to the east of Dowth Hall, to the left of the road from Drogheda. Many of the stones have been removed, but several of gigantic proportions remain in their original position.

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Circle near Newtownbutler.​—​One of the most notable circles now remaining in Ireland is that called the ‘Druid’s Temple,’ situated on the summit of a hill near Wattle Bridge, a small hamlet in the vicinity of Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh. The stones vary in length from 3 to upwards of 10 feet. The largest remaining measures slightly over 10 feet; it is 6 feet 5 inches in breadth, and 3 feet 9 inches in thickness. Another is 7 feet high, 8 feet 5 inches broad, and 5 feet in thickness. The circle on the interior measures in diameter 126 feet. The diameter of the outer ring at Stonehenge is 100 feet, a figure common to several of these remains.

Whether the Fermanagh circle was ever enclosed by an outer work, as was common with kindred structures in Britain and elsewhere, can probably never be ascertained. For more than two hundred years the land immediately adjoining has been subject to the plough. That there were outside works, however, can scarcely admit of a doubt. On the south-east side, a distance of five paces from the circle, are five large stones, the ruins of a cromlech which had been wrecked many years ago for the sake of its material.