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Anciently sacred because horizon shape & cyclical celestial patterns are in useful harmony at this place.

Orange lines mark the annual solar round. Lunistice positions over the 18.6 year lunar nodal cycle are blue. More about the Solar CalendarMore about the Lunar Calendar

mega-what / ancient sacred places / Ireland, West Cork, Bantry

Trawlebane (Tralibane): Five Stone Circle CO119-005

NGR 10421/04773 (IW 04203 ITM 47727 / 51.67439, -9.38555) [Googlemap]

Trajectories 1200BCE. Tap/Click pics for big ones.
Trawlebane (Tralibane) Stone Circle is about 5km east of Bantry. It is close to the birthplace of "Chief" Francis O'Neill, the famous early 20th century traditional Irish music collector and Superintendent of the Chicago Police. There are periodic commemorative events, including open air platform dancing and a summer school [more detail].

Panoramic view with luni-solar trajectories c.1000BCE from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. South, in a dip but not the lowest point, is marked by a saddle in nearer ground [Pic].

North is on a ridge but obscured [Pic].

Green lines approximate hidden horizon segments.

SW from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. The circle is about 2.4m in diameter and filled with field stones. Its axis indicates a notch in Spratt Hill top that marks the lunar mid­point. North of that, the ridge terminates in a lower top which marks the minor end of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range. South of the hilltop, at the intersection of its slope with a flatter ridge is a rounded hump that marks the major standstillLunistice positions vary cyclically over an 18.6 year period but are fairly static for more than a year at either end of the range.

Standing Stone CO118-049 is 175m to the SSW.

W from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. To the west, the winter cross-quarters are in a dip. The land then rises in a useful series of humps and bumps until the equinox occurs on a hilltop. Beyond that the horizon becomes obscured by trees. Two kilometres away at about 246° Five-Stone Circle CO118-044 is hidden behind some spruce trees.

NW from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. Standing Stone CO118-049, 175m SSW of this Circle is the first of a line of four (CO118-049, CO118-047, CO118-045 and CO118-09101) joining the two Stone Circles, which together bracket and indicate the summer cross-quarters. They are all part of a larger complex of stones in this valley.

The northern horizon is obscured but is a long ridge with the highest point somewhere in the spruce plantation.

NE from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. The north-east is also thoroughly obscured by trees but here they conceal a significant block of high ground comprising Glandart hilltop and Mullagh­mesha. Major standstillLunistice positions vary cyclically over an 18.6 year period but are fairly static for more than a year at either end of the range of the moon occurs on the north slope as may be seen through a gap in the vegetation. The reverse axis of the circle points slightly north of this.

E from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. Eastwards the horizon rises as it becomes closer. The equinox falls in a prominent dip that is known locally as Murdering Glen because it was the hunting ground of a legendary highwayman in times past.

SE from Trawlebane Five Stone Circle, Cork, Ireland. The south-eastern slope has the cross-quarter in a large break near its top, then the minor end of the lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. range turns round a top and the mid­point is in a dip. The solstice is indicated by a knoll at the top of a step.

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