Rock Art, CRATHACH THIAR (Cléire)

Passage tomb art in Ireland, dating from the Bronze Age

Stone (H 4'5"; Wth 1'3") decorated with spirals, chevrons and serpentiform lines in the manner of passage tomb art (O'Kelly 1949, 8-10). Discovered c. 1880 during field clearance on Cape Clear Island and removed to Sherkin Island where it was re-discovered in 1945; presented to UCC and now in Cork Public Museum (CO074-170----). Possibly associated with passage tomb (CO153-010---) to SE (O'Leary 1989, 124-6). Decorated stone described by O'Kelly (1949, 8-10) as follows; 'The decorated stone here described, first came to light some seventy-five years ago. It was found when stones were being cleared from a field in the townland of Glen, in Clear Island off the coast of Co. Cork. The stone is a fairly straight-sided slab of grey-green coarse-grained slate, its maximum dimensions being 4' 5" [1.34m] high, 1' 3" [0.38m] wide and 3" [0.07m] thick. It is decorated on one face only and the ornament appears to have covered the greater part of the surface. However, a large thin lamina has been flaked off the lower third of the stone carrying with it portion of the design. The decorated face is smooth and the ornament which was executed in a pock technique (possibly the lines were rubbed afterwards), is deeply scored and very clearly visible. The design consists of spirals, chevrons and serpentiform lines, the ends of the various devices often running right to the edges of the slab. At the

Type:
Passage tomb art

Period:
Bronze Age

Coordinates:
51.44°N, 9.49°W

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