Overview
About this site
Overview
Drombeg stone circle, also known as The Druid's Altar, is a small axial stone circle 2.4 km (1.5 mi) east of Glandore, County Cork, Ireland. It is protected under the National Monuments Act.
Although not an especially significant example, it is one of the most visited megalithic sites in Ireland. Radiocarbon dating of samples from the site suggests that it was active c. 1100-800 BC.
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Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Drombeg stone circle
As an axial or Cork-Kerry stone circle, it has two taller entrance stones placed opposite a recumbent axial stone.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
The circle originally consisted of seventeen closely spaced stones, of which 13 survive. The stones are of local sandstone, and the circle spans 9.3 metres (31 ft) in diameter. As an axial or Cork-Kerry stone circle, it has two taller entrance stones placed opposite a recumbent axial stone. The axis is oriented south-west towards the setting sun, and the arrangement is said to orient the monument towards the setting sun at the midwinter solstice. The most westerly stone, the recumbent, is 1.9m long and has two egg-shaped cup-marks, one with a ring around it. It is flanked by a pair of axial portal stones 1.8m high.
Terence Meaden suggests that a petroglyph on the northern side of one stone represents an erect phallus, about 200 millimetres (7.9 in) long, and that a further carving on the upper surface of one of the recumbent stones, previously identified as an 'axe-like outline', is vulvar in nature. Both carvings are prehistoric.
Approximately 40m to the west are two round stone-walled prehistoric huts and a fulacht fiadh. Evidence suggests that the fulacht fiadh was in use until approximately the 5th century AD. The larger hut had a timber roof supported by timber posts, and the smaller hut contains the remains of a cooking spot on its eastern side. A causeway leads from the huts to the fulacht fiadh, which has a hearth, a well and a water trough.
ExcavationsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
Following a number of surveys in the early 1900s, the site was excavated and restored in 1957. An inverted pot found close to the centre of the circle contained the cremated remains of a young adolescent wrapped in thick cloth. It lay alongside smashed sherds and a collection of sweepings from a pyre.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
Recumbent stone circles are found in only two regions: Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland, and the counties of Cork and Kerry, where they are now more commonly called Cork-Kerry or axial circles. Some archaeologists, such as Aubrey Burl, have linked such circles with rituals in which moonlight played a central role, since they are aligned with the arc of the southern moon; excavations at Tomnaverie in Scotland have suggested that no alignment was intended, so this remains a hypothesis.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Irish stone circles
Ireland's best-known type of stone circle is the recumbent or axial circle of the far south-west. A recumbent stone circle incorporates a large monolith, the recumbent, lying on its side. These circles are found in only two regions: Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland and the counties of Cork and Kerry, where they are now more commonly called Cork-Kerry or axial stone circles. Some archaeologists, such as Aubrey Burl, have linked them with rituals in which moonlight played a central role, since they are aligned with the arc of the southern moon; excavations at Tomnaverie in Scotland have suggested that no alignment was intended, so this remains a hypothesis.
Drombeg, near Glandore in County Cork, is also called the Druid's Altar. It is a small axial stone circle, not an especially significant example, but one of the most visited megalithic sites in Ireland. It originally consisted of seventeen closely spaced stones, of which 13 survive, made of local sandstone, in a circle 9.3 metres across. Two taller entrance stones stand opposite a recumbent axial stone, and the axis points south-west towards the setting sun. The recumbent, 1.9 metres long, has two egg-shaped carved cup marks on it. The circle was excavated in 1958, when the cremated remains of an adolescent were found in a pot at the centre.
Stone circles in the British Isles typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most built between 3300 and 2500 BCE. The name "Druid's Altar" is a later popular one.
When visiting, look for the two tall entrance stones and the recumbent opposite them, and note the direction in which the axis points.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Drombeg stone circle, Wikipedia: Recumbent stone circle, Wikipedia: Stone circle · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 800 BCE
Following a number of surveys in the early 1900s, the site was excavated and restored in 1957. Radiocarbon dating of samples taken from the site suggest that it was active c. 1100–800 BC.
Source - 1958
It was excavated in 1958, when the cremated remains of an adolescent were found in a pot in the circle's centre.
Source
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.

The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Photographs
7 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
1100–800 BCEHow this date was established: Radiocarbon datingThe range comes from radiocarbon dating of samples collected at the site.Source for this date
Measured facts
- Location
- 2.4 km east of Glandore, County Cork, IrelandSource: Location
- Excavation and restoration
- Carried out in 1957Source: Excavation and restoration
- Burial
- Cremated remains of a young adolescent in an inverted potSource: Burial
- Associated finds
- Smashed sherds and sweepings from a pyreSource: Associated finds
- Legal status
- Protected under the National Monuments ActSource: Legal status
- Visitor prominence
- One of the most visited megalithic sites in IrelandSource: Visitor prominence
- Heritage designation
- national monument of IrelandSource: Heritage designation
Where it stands
Ireland
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 51°33′52″ N, 9°05′13″ WFor a GPS or map app: 51.56455, -9.08702
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
- Menhir (standing stone)Steinmonumente von Burgatia2800–1800 BCE
- DolmenPortal Tomb von Ahaglaslin4000–3000 BCE
Reanascreena980–910 BCE- Stone circleBohonagh3300–2500 BCE
Gurranes Stone Row- Stone circleKnockawaddra stone circle3300–2500 BCE
Lettergorman SW3300–2500 BCE- Menhir (standing stone)Coolnagarrane Standing Stone2800–1800 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q1260144wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Drombeg Dec23rd 2013 25.JPGCawlefCC BY-SA 4.0
- County Cork - Drombeg stone circle - 20210729174156.jpgJonjobakerCC BY-SA 4.0
- County Cork - Drombeg stone circle - 20210729181019.jpgJonjobakerCC BY-SA 4.0
- County Cork - Drombeg stone circle - 20240505023348.jpgGillfotoCC BY-SA 4.0
- County Cork - Drombeg stone circle - 20240505023414.jpgGillfotoCC BY-SA 4.0
- 2019-07-29-Drombeg stone circle-6958.jpgSuperbassCC BY-SA 4.0
- Drombeg 4.jpgAdamcorkCC BY-SA 4.0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Drombeg stone circle" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Drombeg stone circleCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q1260144CC0