Unlocking the secrets of Ireland’s ancient sacred landscapes and stone circles
New research suggests the stone circles of Co Cork and Co Kerry were planned as solar monuments constructed for prehistoric fertility rituals involving sunrise ‘shadow dramas’ symbolising a ‘marriage of the gods’
The deep mysteries of the stone circles of south-west Ireland are being unravelled by the archaeologist, meteorologist and retired physics professor Dr Terence Meaden following a decade of meticulous study.
Not only were they practical sites for determining seasonal dates important to farming communities, but they were places of worship and hence effectively simple temples in the strictest definition and use of the term, concludes Dr Meaden. They were not burial grounds; there was no cult of the dead. They were places for the living, spiritual and sublime.
West Cork and South Kerry have the highest concentration of stone circles in Europe, dating from 4,000 and more years ago. Dr Meaden is working to complete an invaluable scholarly guide covering 60 of these intriguing monuments, interpreted by recognising the symbolism to be found in the shapes and positions of the stones relative to each other and the direction of the rising sun.
He has traced their alignments to sunrises at key times of the year — the solstices and the…
