Grange Stone Circle

Grange Stone Circle, Holycross, Limerick, Southern Ireland

Grange stone circle located 300m west of Lough Gur in County Limerick, Ireland, is situated beside the Limerick to Kilmallock road, 4 km north of Bruff. The stone circle comprises a ring of continuous uprights up to 2.8m high, with a diameter of 45m and backed by an earthen bank 9m wide and about 1.2m tall. The entrance on the eastern side is paved and flanked by uprights. Clay has been packed down to a depth of 60 cm across the whole area of the enclosure.

On excavation it was found to be littered with late Neolithic Beaker pottery, which seemed to have been deliberately smashed. It is near perfect shape and the discovery of a posthole in the very centre of the enclosure, indicates that the circle was measured out from a central stake with a rope. Twelve large orthostats have been placed at intervals around the stone ring, each standing directly opposite one of the other axial stones. The stones are contiguous rather than free standing, and the surrounding bank makes it look more like a form of henge monument than a conventional stone circle. This embankment and the precise arrangement of orthostats suggest that this site had a ritual purpose.


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