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Bruff, Co. Limerick
History
Bronze Age people who lived around Lough Gur in 2100BC built
Grange Stone Circle. It is the largest
stone circle in Ireland. At dawn on
midsummer's morning, they performed rituals at the stone circle that we know
little about.
How to get there
By car:
From Limerick, take the R512 south to Ballyneety, transfer
to R514 south toward Herbertstown, Grange Stone Circle is on the west side of
the road before Herbertstown.
By bus:
See www.buseireann.ie
website for all current travel details and restrictions.
Admission fee
Free entry. But
Timothy Casey, who maintains the site, appreciates a 2 euro donation.
Address
Grange Stone Circle
Holycross
Bruff
Co. Limerick
My experience
Grange Stone Circle is the largest stone circle in Ireland -
meaning large in terms of circumference.
The stones are of varying sizes, interspersed with tree trunks, forming
a large ring. In the dappled shade, four
calves nestle and nap inside the circle.
They've left their mark on the space, so beware of stepping in cow
paddies.
My imagination runs wild, visualizing the types of rites
that were performed here. A large, flat
rock looks like a sacrificial altar.
What would it have been like, walking up to the ring during the middle
of a ceremony?
The site is historically associated with the Summer
Solstice. The last rain-free Summer
Solstice in Ireland occurred in 1998.
Timothy, the caretaker, shows me a photograph taken on that morning. It shows rising sunbeams passing though the
narrow, stone passageway and focusing at the center of the circle.
We were going to come for midsummer this year, but we
traveled to Kerry instead, scared out of Limerick by the rain. Timothy says the weather was foul this
midsummer. I'm relieved to know we
didn't miss anything.
Written by Liz O' Malley - Summer of Travel 2007
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