Tags
ancient, archaeloogy, dolmen, europe, history, ireland, irish, megaliths, monuments, prehistoric, reference, stones, waterford
Autumn, or Fall as it is known in America, is practically over now and although it hasn’t been particularly cold here in Waterford, there has been very little in the way of nice crisp sunny days that we normally associate with this time of year. Despite the weather, which has been mainly damp and wet, I did manage to get round a few places.
Among the places and sites I visited were Comeraghmountain (above). Here, in the company of my “stonehunter” friend Pat, I ascended the mountain from the eastern side of the Comeraghs where it’s a steep climb up from the village of Kilrossanty, past the landmark religious cross which dominates the horizon and then out onto the open moor above. During the walk we came across an interesting dry stone enclosure under the foot of the mountain. The afternoon was spent just ambling and exploring the area and taking in the exhilarating fresh air of the wild and wide open spaces of the region.
On a foggy afternoon in early October I made a return visit to “The White Lady” standing stone at Ballymacaw. This intriguing stone is so wonderfully located right beside the sea cliff and always questions the visitor as to why it was erected there.
More recently, after getting some new photos of the ‘Mauma’ standing stone (right), I descended towards Kilbrien to visit the Araglin Archaeological Complex which lies below the western slope of the same mountain. Here, I was fortunate to meet up with a very helpful and knowledgeable local man who had spent many years exploring this area which is of national and international importance with its plethora of archaeological remains. For the average visitor to the valley it can be quite difficult to locate the monuments here such as Hut Sites and Kerb Circles, as they are quite ‘low key’ and sometimes quite obscured by bracken and heather growth. However, by late afternoon and thanks to my guide, I was delighted to have seen many of the intriguing collection of prehistoric remains which obviously tell us that this broad valley was once home to a substantial settlement of people.
In the early days of October I visited the Tramore Burrow. Here by the beach in the shelter of the sand dunes, one finds a Cooking Area/Refuse Dump where a spread of burnt shells and stones indicates the place where the early settlers cooked their bounty of seafood. Some refer to this spot as this their ‘picnic’ place. However, I doubt if there were rugs, picnic baskets and windbreaks then!. What we do know, is that the evidence we see there are the basic signs of daily survival for those early settlers of Tramore so many thousand years ago.
- Tramore Burrow
Within the next few weeks I hope to explore more areas of the Comeragh mountains and also pay a return visit to a farmer who promised me he had some interesting stones for me to have a look at – I look forward to that.
http://www.prehistoricwaterford.com//
