Canrooska Stone Row & Five Stone Circle CO090-006001/2

Canrooska Stone Row & Five Stone Circle are a couple of kilometres north of Glengarriff and are part of a five site local monument group. In a saddle of a ridge and only 4m apart, these two are effectively in the same place from an archaeo­astro­nomical point of view. There is also a Cairn (CO090-006003), 7m south of the Stone Row.

South is at a break on the left side of a dip [Pic].

North is at a break on the left side of a hilltop [Pic].

To the north-east, the major half of the lunistice Lunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range falls on a rocky ridge with a rugged profile. The near / far intersect step is good for both lunar midpoint and half-month from summer solstice. the lunar minor eighth is at the next step down with cross-quarter at the next again.

Axial reverse is towards the equinox / cross-quarter mid­point.

Equinox and winter cross-quarter are indicated by hilltops.

The big dip is accurately WXQ+8, a week before Samhain.

South-eastwards, the major end of the lunistice range occurs on fairly local ground with the minor end running down a slope. Winter solstice sun rises in the intersect notch. At this point the local part of the horizon is c.300m away.

This sector in particular shows significant differences when viewed from the other Stone Row but is very similar when seen from the nearby Boulder-Burial.

The south-western horizon is fairly distant. Winter solstice sunset was at a prominent (to the naked eye) pointed rock on the Sugarloaf's south slope while half way between solstice and cross-quarter the sun just grazed the summit before setting down the length of the northern slope [Enlargement].

Lunar positions for the major half of the cycle occur on a nearer hill, showing a greater variation between different monument positions.

Westwards, the undulating profile has both equinox / cross-quarter mid­points at rises.

Axial orientation was perhaps a half-month south of the equinox.

To the north-west, the basic theme is one of "lunistice cycle spanning the hilltop with summer solstice sunset in the middle". Summer cross-quarters are on the preceding rise and the dip before that is a quarter-month before Bealtaine.

The five stone circle is axially oriented further south, to the period north of winter cross-quarter (before Samhain).

One of the portals is a notably large slab but its long axis indicates declinations well beyond the lunar limits [Pic]. It actually makes a secondary axis to the east [Pic].

Similar (but opposite) use of a large slab as a portal may be seen at Kealkill.

• Stone Row CO090-007001 c.110m to the south-east, forms a complementary pair with this one. On its own, neither is perfect but the combination gives good all round results. This makes it seem likely that they were planned and built at about the same time.
• Boulder-Burial CO090-007002, between the rows, occupies a less favoured position that does nonetheless have some advantages of its own. This, combined with use of a Stone Row as a visual target suggests that it was built later.
• The Five Stone Circle (CO090-006002) people were clearly later again. Having failed to find a location with its own useful variations they built close to an existing monument, effectively sharing its position. Similarly, a small cairn (CO090-006003) was built close to the other side of this row, clearly indicating that it was regarded as the best overall position.

The group as a whole is delimited by two Standing Stones:

• CO090-023 is c.200m to the north-north-west while
• CO090-008001 is c.650m south-south-west and has a Radial Stone Cairn beside it.

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References

• Archaeological Survey of Ireland, record details. www.archaeology.ie/archaeological-survey-ireland
• Ó'NUALLÁIN, SEÁN 1984 A Survey of Stone Circles in Cork and Kerry. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 84c:1-77, p39, no.76.
• Ó'NUALLÁIN, SEÁN 1988 Stone Rows in the South of Ireland. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 88c:179-256, p234, no.30.
• POWER, D. et al. 1992 Archaeological Inventory of County Cork, Vol 1: West Cork. Dublin: Stationary Office. p34:no.140, p20:no.65, p100:no.839.
• RUGGLES, C.L.N. 1999 Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland. Newhaven & London: Yale University Press. CKR64.
• RUGGLES, C.L.N. 1996 Stone Rows of Three or More Stones in South-West Ireland. Archaeoastronomy 21 (Journal of the History of Astronomy xxvii) S55-S71.
• RUGGLES, C.L.N. & Burl, H.A.W. 1995 Astronomical Influences on Prehistoric Ritual Architecture in North-Western Europe: The Case of the Stone Rows. Vistas in Astronomy 39:517-528. Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd.