Rock Art, CLONFINLOUGH

Rock Art in Ireland, dating from the Bronze Age

National Monument No. 336. Located on SW facing slope of rising pasture with good views of Fin Lough located 360m to SW. Large earthfast boulder (dims. 3m E-W x 2.8m N-S; max. H 0.75m) known today as 'The Clonfinlough Stone' and previously known as the ‘Fairy’s Stone’ and the ‘The Horseman’s Stone’ (Graves 1865, 360) the surface of which is covered with water solution holes, incised lines and several other unusual symbols or features such as elongated crosses some of which may be artificial while others are the result of natural weathering. It has been suggested that similar decorated stones in NW Spain have been dated to the Bronze Age (Jackson 1967, 11-19). The surface of the stone is decorated with a series of cruciform shapes, incomplete T-shaped lines, a possible representation of a footprint and several longitudinal and transverse lines. It has been suggested that many of these symbols or lines may be fortuitous, the result of dip and strike joints modified and deepened by chemical solution. However, it has also been concluded that some or all of the original solution-modified grooves may have been retouched or deepened artificially (ibid. 11-19). Graves suggested that the footprint on the surface of the stone may indicate that the boulder was used as an Inauguration stone (Graves 1865, 361; Fitzpatrick 2004, 115, 239). The lower part of the stone contains eleven motifs c

Period:
Bronze Age

Coordinates:
53.32°N, 7.94°W

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