Grim news as Irish stone disappears
Submitted by Andy B on Wednesday, 28 August 2002 Page Views: 1869
Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: Ireland (Republic of) It has been said that thieves will steal anything that isn't nailed down but in Newry it seems the situation is even worse."Not even a stone is safe," reads a headline in the Newry Reporter.
The paper reports: "A large stone weighing around five hundredweight isn't the usual type of thing to be targeted by thieves but just such a stone has gone missing from the spot in the Poyntzpass area where it has rested for hundreds of years.
"The Bullaun stone, which stands one metre high and is thought by locals to originate from the bronze age, disappeared from a field beside Old Road, in the townland of Demoan near Poyntzpass, during the past two weeks."
Four members of the Poyntzpass and District Local History Society are pictured standing next to a hole in the ground - the imprint left by the stone.
One of the men said: "This is a very heavy stone weighing between
four hundredweight and five hundredweight. It is doubtful if it could have been moved without some type of mechanical lifter." The stone rested near the gate of a field owned by local man Alfie Donnell, though "all that remained now was a depression in the ground".
The unmarked stone has a circular hollow on its top, which is said to be approximately 25 centimetres in diameter and 25 centimetres in depth.
The historians said the purpose of the hollow was unclear, though they believed the stone was likely to relate to a pre-Christian religion.
The paper reports that the stone is known to have stood in Demoan for several hundred years at least, though it could have been there much longer.
These types of stones are to be found throughout Ireland and are often stolen to be used as garden ornaments.
--
Joe McNally
Source: The Irish News
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