Drombeg Stone Circle

What you'll see

• Drombeg stone circle is dramatically situated on a rocky terrace with sweeping views over farmland to the Atlantic Ocean.
• Drombeg is perhaps the finest example of a distinctive series of stone circles found in Cork and Kerry.
• Also at the site is a fulacht fiadh or prehistoric cooking site.
• Stone circle - At Drombeg the seventeen stones are symmetrically arranged so that one of the stones (the axial stone) is set on its side and placed directly opposite a pair of tall stones (the portal stones) that form the entrance to the circle.
• The stones reduce in height from the portals to the axial stone which has two shallow cup marks carved on its upper surface.
• In common with many stone circles in the region, the axis of the circle (i.e., the line extending through the entrance across the top of the axial stone) is orientated north-east / south-west.
• At the winter solstice (21st December) the sun sets at a point on the horizon aligned with this axis.
• This marks of the shortest day of the year in Ireland.
• Fulacht fiadh - Very close to the stone circle are the remains of two hut sites and a fulacht fiadh (ancient cooking place).
• The fulacht fiadh consists of a stone-lined trough with a nearby hearth and well.
• Water in the trough would have been heated by rolling in stones heated by fire in the hearth.
• Experiments have shown that in about 18 minutes, 70 gallons (318 litres) of cold water could be brought to the boil in this way.
• Meat was then cooked in the water, which remained sufficiently hot for almost 3 hours.
• Alternative suggested uses for fulachtaí fia are ritual bathing, as well as industrial activities such as dyeing and even brewing.