Rock Art, MAULAGALLANE

Rock Art in Ireland, dating from the Bronze Age

Located on a peat-covered ridge in low-lying land, approximately 170m W of the Small river and near its confluence with the Sneem river, this dramatic section of rock outcrop extends NE-SW for a distance of 18.5m. Its NW side rises almost vertically to a height of .9m, but its 3m wide upper surface slopes gently down to the SE, where it runs beneath a .5m thick deposit of peat. The exposed surface is smooth, though fissured, and is decorated with a series of very large, weathered motifs for almost its entire length; some of these continue beneath the peat on its SE side. One cupmark is enclosed by four concentric rings, the outermost of which has a maximum diameter of 1.5m, making it the largest rock art motif on record from the Iveragh Peninsula; it features two external grooves, which extend downslope. The remainder of the cupmarks are enclosed by one to five rings, some of them gapped, and most of them tending towards a square shape. A number of the outer rings feature one or two short, external grooves which extend from the SE side of each motif. This is the largest recorded rock art surface from the Iveragh Peninsula. See attached drawing of rock art taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, Fig. 69 The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no

Period:
Bronze Age

Coordinates:
51.86°N, 9.91°W

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