Site Type: Stone Circle
Irish Grid Ref: N9303203230
Location: Link to Bing Maps
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| Athgreany Stone Circle |
This stone circle is described on Archaeology.ie as follows;
"Disturbed remains of a circle of granite blocks (int. diam. 23m) at the high N end of a small steep-sided ridge. There are sixteen stones in the area of the site of which only five are in situ; of the others, five are prostrate but probably close to their original position, three are clearly displaced while the remaining two are too small to have been original components. The stones in situ vary in height from 1.3m to 1.92m but (contra Burl 1976, 234) the pair at the NE are not the highest stones in the circle although their position, facing the outlier ('The Piper') 40m further to the NE, suggests that they may mark the entrance. The OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1928, 114) describe twenty-nine stones including displaced examples and record a then recent attempt to plant the site with trees. A trench dug around the inner edge of the circle was noted and also the presence of a bank between the stones which may be the origin of the low bank now visible between the stones at the SE. The outlier occurs downslope to the E and is a large glacial erratic (H 1.95m; diam. c. 2.9m). While it is a natural feature there is no reason to believe that it did not form an integral part of the site. Crossing the top of the stone at right-angles are two well-defined grooves and a similar curved groove occurs on what was the top of a prostrate stone in the SE part of the circle. It is clear that these are not entirely natural. Evidence of the effort put into the destruction of the site occurs in the form of deep wedge marks across the upper surface of two of the stones. (Burl 1976, 234; Walshe 1931, 128-30)".
Athgreany stone circle is close to the N81 road near Hollywood in Co. Wicklow. There is an information board on-site and as such I don't think there is any issue with access to the site. It is also known by the name "The Pipers Stones". Local legend says that some merrymakers were dancing on a Sunday to a pipers tune and they were all turned to stone because they 'profaned' the Sabbath day. There is a large outlying stone which in the folklore represents the "piper". The name Athgreany comes from the Irish Ath Greine which possibly means "Field of the Sun" and as such many have concluded that it must be astronomically aligned to the sun.
As per archaeology.ie above there may have been as many as 29 stones here at one stage and of the 16 left now only 5 are thought to be in-situ. To me this makes it very difficult to accurately conclude what the original intentions of the builders were. Interestingly enough however that like many other astronomically aligned sites there is evidence of rock-art. The outlier to the circle has a cross carved into it along with some "stone axes" and there is also evidence of some cup-marks.
Notwithstanding this I have came across links online to the circle being aligned to various days and I have included the links below.
Picture of Summer Solstice Sunset by www.themodernantiquarian.com contributor CMK
Reference to the circle being aligned to the Winter Solstice Sunset
Also very recently a theory has been put forward by Chris Corlett of http://www.christiaancorlett.com
that from the outlier back over the circle there is an alignment with the V shaped valley of Toor Brook on the Equinox sunrise.
Another source that deals with alignments at the site is Stone Circle Athgreany - Stones of Time by Helen O'Clery. Published in 1990 it looks at the site and possible alignments at the various "celtic" feast days. I have not read a copy of this book but summaries mention that it looks at the stone circle as being a calendar device using shadows to keep track of the passage of time over the year.
Links to photographs;
Picture of the rock-art on the outlier stone by www.themodernantiquarian.com contributor Ken Williams
Links for further information;
Further information on www.voicesfromthedawn.com
