Stones in Cork and Kerry

The megalithic monuments of Cork and Kerry in southwestern Ireland date mainly from the Neolithic through to the Late Bronze Age (roughly 3000 BCE to 800 BCE). The main types of megalithic monuments are wedge tombs, stone circles, standing stones and stone rows.

What is especially characteristic in Cork and Kerry is the prevalence of the axial (or Cork–Kerry) stone circle type: circles built with an odd number of stones (often five or more), aligned along a southwest–northeast axis. The “axial stone” lies horizontally at the southwest side, with two upright “portal” stones opposite it. More than 100 axial stone circles (both five‑stone and multiple‑stone) are known in Cork and Kerry combined. Some famous examples include Drombeg in Cork, a well‑studied axial stone circle oriented toward the midwinter sunset, and Uragh Stone Circle in Kerry, a five‑stone circle with an outlier and NE–SW alignment.