Rock Art, BUAILE AN GHLEANNA

Rock Art in Ireland, dating from the Bronze Age

This record refers to a sandstone boulder decorated with rock art, which was uncovered in 2022 during land reclamation works in Bolinglanna townland. The boulder was originally embedded in the ground at roughly this location but was displaced during the ground works. The discovery was notified immediately to the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland, and the stone was subsequently transferred to the NMI for future safe-keeping (Acquisition no: NMI 2022:60 (Bolinglanna Td., Co. Mayo)). The find location is on the S-SW edge of the mountainous Corraun peninsula, where the high ground gives way to a relatively narrow strip of farmland bordering the rocky shoreline. The stone was discovered in a field of rough, rock-strewn pasture with a general S-facing slope, affording excellent views over Clew Bay, with Clare Island and Achill Beg Island clearly visible to SW and WSW and the S end of Achill Island to W. Croagh Patrick is visible in the distance to SE on the opposite side of the bay. At the base of the slope, ground levels out to flat, damp rush-grown ground through which a stream flows. To N the terrain rises to a high ridge of rough, rocky ground. The irregular-shaped Old Red sandstone boulder (c. 0.75m x c. 0.7m x c. 0.5m) bears a band of three close-set motifs of concentric circles on one face. A fourth motif of concentric arcs is conjoined to two of th

Period:
Bronze Age

Coordinates:
53.87°N, 9.90°W

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