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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, Castletownshend

Gurranes: Stone Row CO142-073

NGR 11746/03148 (IW 17384 ITM 32195 / 51.53085, -9.19052) [Googlemap]

Trajectories 1200BCE. Tap/Click pics for big ones.
Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland from SSE. Gurranes Stone Row is just west of Castletownshend and known locally as the "five fingers" but sometimes called the "three fingers" as there are now only three stones upright. This striking monument is situated on high ground at the north edge of a level terrace just south of a slightly higher ridge crest.

Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland from WSW. Two tall, thin slabs stand up­right and a third "index finger" to the east has fallen. Just south beside where it fell from is a low slab that probably helped support it. At the west end of the row but offset to the south is the "little finger". The original east most "thumb" was removed to the grounds of the Castletownshend estate in the 19th century and still lies there, measuring 5.3m long, 60x15cm at the top and 90x35cm at the base, making it the tallest stone.

So what we seem to have had here was a four-stone row of tall slabs with an additional, non-axial, standing stone near its west end.

Panoramic view with luni-solar trajectories from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. South is indic­ated by a dip in fairly near ground [Pic].

North is indicated by a distant intersect dip [Pic].

NE from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. Axially north-eastwards [Pic] is a nearby hill covered with scrub woodland that makes it unsurveyable though the cross-quarter and minor 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 would occur there. North of that is a middle distance hill with a lunar sixteenth on its top and the solstice / cross-quarter mid­point at the dip where it intersects with a more distant ridge. This distant horizon segment is terminated by a small rounded hill at the south edge of a wide dip that is a marker for the major end of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range.

E from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. The east­ern hor­izon is very local and thus sen­sitive to exact observer position. Survey was from between the two main uprights.

SE from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. The south-eastern lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. zone is the closest part, c.35m.

SW from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. To the south-west, a prominent rounded hill has a quarter-month bracket for the cross-quarter on its top and the lunar minor eighth at its southern foot. A lunar sixteenth and the solstitial half-month bracket are at the northern basal step of the adjacent long ridge with winter solstice sunset at the top of the slope. The lunar mid­point and a sixteenth are both at steps, then the major eighth is in a dip before the end of that ridge section marks the major end of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range. The row axis is just north of the cross-quarters [Pic].

W from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. To the west, the cross-quarters are on a bit of a rise between the hilltop and the intersect that mark its quarter-month brackets.

The axis of the extra "little finger" is towards Lick Hill and is a little over two weeks north of the cross-quarters [Pic].

NW from Gurranes Stone Row, Cork, Ireland. The north-west is a distant horizon. Both ends of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range are marked by low rounded hills. the lunar minor eighth and mid­point are both at slight dips in hilltops. The solstice is on a hilltop at the northern end of a block of high ground that has the cross-quarter at its other end.

This splendid stone row is rather isolated, perhaps indicating that it was regarded as good enough to not need supplementing with others in the same territory. The nearest extant Stone Rows are:

Other monuments are nearer:

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