The Great Circle of Ireland

Please note that this site is always under construction. More photos and details of this Sacred site will be added as we obtain them.

The North segment of the circle.

Location

The Circle stands close to the Limerick-Bruff road about 10 miles south of Limerick City. Luckily, it seems to be off the main "tourist trails" and has relatively few visitors when compared to well-known sites such as NewGrange. The Circle  is close to the Western shore of Lough Gur and, before that lake was lowered several hundred years ago, must have been very close to the old shoreline. It is worth note that the main settlements around Lough Gur are on the Eastern and Northern shores.

Detail of stone on southeastern side of the Circle

History

This is a Neolithic Circle, built between 4 and 6 thousand years ago. It is likely that, at that time, the area was one of the most densely populated areas of Ireland. The site has been excavated; pottery and other items were found, as well as some human remains, although there is no reason to think that the Circle was primarily used as a burying ground.

Alignment

There are conflicting reports of the Circle's alignment to the Sun. Some say the great Crom Stone is aligned to the Midsummer sunset (across the circle) while others tell us the entrance is aligned to Midsummer sunrise or even Bealtaine Sunset (also across the circle). We intend to investigate this over the course of the coming years and will give you our experience.

Nearing sunset seen down the entry avenue.

Apart from the obvious alignment of the stones themselves, it has become clear from a bit of map work that there is a strong alignment of this site to the East. It passes through many old Churches, Raths and other earthworks on its route to the Rock of Cashel.

Brian has dowsed the circle many times and have discovered a strong dual line which passes between the Crom stone and the adjacent Altar stones. This dowsing suggests a male line to the right (as viewed from the centre of the circle) and a female line to the left.

The three "diety stones" of the circle- from left to right, we see the Crone, "The Lady", and Crom Dubh.

The circle as viewed from behind the altar stones. As the site is on a working farm, calves are often grazed there. Note that in places tree roots have actually grown over the original stones.

Odd stones in the Circle

There are a number of interestingly weathered stones around the circle.

The 'Salmon' stone

The 'Dog' or 'Lion head' stone

Even the trees want to get in on the act. The 'Lady' tree.

A second, smaller circle is visible to the north of the main circle.

Other nearby sites

There are several other stone circles nearby. One (shown above), located just north of the main circle is known locally as the Moon Circle, and is visible from it. We have also visited two others which are located deep in a farmer's field near Lough Gur. These circles are only accessible by special permission of the landowner. Neither is as big as the Great Circle, but one has the interesting feature of being a "double circle" with one ring of stones encircled by a second. Unfortuantely, this circle has been bisected by a fence in modern times.

Contact the authors of this page:

Links

http://www.loughgur.com/stone_circle.htm (note: this page shows "the Lady" altar stone knocked over, and describes this as an "entrance" to the Circle. The actual entrance is about 20 feet to the east of these stones).

http://www.anima.demon.co.uk/sites/liosgrange.html (an excellent site which provides a panoramic view of the Circle in Quicktime format)

http://www.stonehenge.uklinux.net/article.php?sid=353 (provides an excellent view of the entrance stones)