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Anciently sacred because horizon shape & cyclical celestial patterns are in useful harmony at this place.

Orange lines mark the annual solar round. Lunistice positions over the 18.6 year lunar nodal cycle are blue. More about the Solar CalendarMore about the Lunar Calendar

mega-what / ancient sacred places / Ireland, West Cork, Durrus

Coolcoulaghta: Standing Stone Pair & Standing Stone CO130-032002 & 1

NGR 09309/03926 & 09311/03932 (IV 93104 ITM 39302 / 51.59669, -9.54336) [Googlemap]

Trajectories 1200BCE. Tap/Click pics for big ones.
Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair from SE. Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair is about three kilometres south of Durrus. It was removed in 1980 but the stones were replaced in 1983 by the Office of Public Works, after local outcry, using a plan and elevation made in 1977 by archaeologists of the Ordnance Survey. They seem to have done a very good job.

Also recorded by the Ordnance Survey (1901) was a Standing Stone, sixty-three metres south-south-west of the pair. This stone is known to have been removed in the early 1970's and is supposedly buried nearby. Views from the two sites are very similar. Distant horizons are effectively the same to the north-west but nearer ones do differ more. In state guardianship and open to the public (National Monument no.565) with good access & some parking.

Panoramic view with luni-solar trajectories from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. This survey is from the Stone Pair, likely the later monument.

South is at a step in a slope [Pic].

North is at a dip in a nearer ridge, with a short section of distant horizon beyond it [Pic].

SW from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. The two stones may be aligned as a marker. The sightline passes over Dunbeacon Stone Circle to give the day that is halfway between equinox and winter cross-quarter. From the Standing Stone site the hilltop is more clearly defined, the circle is directly under it, and the day marked by the hilltop is a half-month south of the equinox.

The shed conceals a dip of the far south-west horizon that is the major eighth and the intersect of the ridge with nearer ground, which is the major end of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. cycle. The dip marking the solstitial half-month bracket (Wsol+15) is the same one that is axially indicated by the circle as a major standstillLunistice positions vary cyclically over an 18.6 year period but are fairly static for more than a year at either end of the range marker.

W from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. The west is now largely obscured but does offer various useful markers.

NW from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. To the north-west a distant view is framed by nearer ground. This provides markers for the northerly moonsets of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range as well as being usable for summer sunsets. The difference between the view from the Stone Pair and the Standing Stone site is not significant in this direction.

NE from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. The north-east is now completely obscured but basically consists of the further ridge intersecting with a local high point somewhere in the vicinity of summer cross-quarter sunrises. The lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. zone is then on the slope between that point and the intersect of local and distant horizons.

E from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. The eastern skyline is fairly local thus small features can make useful markers. The hilltop has an equinoctial half-month bracket and the equinox/winter cross-quarter mid­point at the steps either side of it.

E from Coolcoulaghta Standing Stone Pair, Cork, Ireland. The south-east lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. zone runs from the end of the hilltop down slope towards the basal step that is an indicator of due south.

This site combines with the Stone Circle 400m away at Dunbeacon to enable observations of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. cycle in all four quadrants as well as giving complete all year round solar coverage. It thus seems likely that the Standing Stone was an original outlier to the Stone Circle and that the Stone Pair was added later, probably by a different group of people, in such a way as to make a minor technical improvement.

Across Dunmanus Bay, 6.6km to the west is another, complementary, circle at Gorteanish.

This Stone Pair may be one of a local group or series:

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© Michael Wilson.