Breeny More Stone Circle | |
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Native name Irish: Liagchiorcal na mBruíne Móra | |
Type | axial stone circle |
Location | Breeny More, Kealkill, County Cork, Ireland |
Coordinates | 51°44′32″N 9°22′30″W / 51.742145°N 9.375097°W |
Elevation | 134 m (440 ft) |
Height | 2.42 m (8 feet)[1] |
Built | 1500–1000 BC |
Owner | Office of Public Works |
Official name | Breeny More[2] |
Reference no. | 450 |
Breeny More Stone Circle is an axial stone circle and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland.[3][4][5]
Breeny More Stone Circle is situated 1 km (0.62 mi) southeast of Kealkill, overlooking Bantry Bay to the west. Another stone circle lies 175 m (574 ft) to the northeast.[6][7][8]
Boulder burials of this type are believed to date from the middle Bronze Age, i.e. 1500–1000 BC.[9] The toponym is from the Irish brúine móra, "great dwellings of the fairies."[10][11]
This is a stone circle with four boulder burials. The circle has two entrance stones and an axial stone, with a main axis measuring 14 m (46 ft). It has a southeast–northwest axis, facing the rising sun.[12][13]
A "boulder burial" is a single large boulder sitting on three or four support stones; the term was coined by Seán Ó Nualláin in the 1970s. They are generally found in the southwest, and associated with standing stones and stone circles; some dispute that there were ever burial sites, as no human remains have ever been recovered.[9]