Drombeg is one of the finest of Ireland’s stone circles and certainly the most popular, attracting large numbers of tourists due to it’s picturesque setting. Like most of Ireland’s stone circles, the construction of Drombeg is thought to date to the middle and later period of the Bronze Age, approximately 3000 years ago.
Stone circles are often considered to be places of ritual and ceremony. Drombeg is aligned with the setting sun of the mid-winter solstice (on the 21st December), a hugely important time in the ancient calendar as it marked the shortest day and longest night of the year. A time of rebirth and renewal as from that point on the days begin to grow. Drombeg’s celestial alignment was first noted by Boyle Somerville in 1923, who saw that when observed from the entrance to the circle, the sun is aligned with the position of the large recumbent (horizontal) stone.
The site has long been imbued with folklore and mythology, with the large recumbent stone being called ‘The Druid’s Altar’. In his book ‘A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany’, archaeologist Aubrey Burl records the story of Boyle Somerville who returned to the site in September 1935, accompanied by a psychic; Miss Geraldine Cummings: ‘She did not like the place. She felt it was…a place where animals, if not small children, were sacrificed at each winter solstice. She ‘saw’ a priest in blue and saffron robes standing at the altar of the recumbent about to kill his human offering… Drombeg was cursed. It was ‘guarded by spirits of darkness’. I didn’t notice anything overly sinister myself during our visit on Wednesday, instead of blue robed Druids we just saw a number of camera wielding tourists enjoying a lovely sunny day in West Cork. If you’re interested in more of the folklore associated with the site, do visit the excellent Voices of the Dawn website.
The site was excavated in 1957 by E.M. Fahy. He discovered that there was a compact gravelly surface within the circle, with a central pit containing the cremated remains of an adolescent and a broken, coarse pot dating to 1124–794 BC, perhaps as Aubrey Burl hints, this young person was an offering to the ancient gods.
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| People still leave offerings of trinkets, coins and sweets on the Axial Stone |
Nearby to the stone circle you can discover the stone foundations of Bronze Age huts and a well-preserved fulacht fiadh, these are a typical Bronze Age monument and fulacht fiadh are found across Ireland. Like this fine example at Drombeg, fulacht fiadh generally consisted of a stone-lined pit or trough, filled with water. Stones were heated on a fire, and when the stones were red hot they were dropped into the water, eventually causing the water to boil. Their function has been long debated in archaeology, from the traditional view of cooking places, to dying clothes, bathing pools or saunas and even as a brewery. Back in 2007, I was fortunate to attend a reconstruction of a fulacht used to brew beer in County Galway by archaeologists Declan Moore and Billy Quinn. The simple process worked a treat, and produced very drinkable (and pretty strong!) ale. Just the kind of thing you’d want for a long cold mid-winter evening waiting for the Solstice!
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| The remains of the fulacht fiadh |
Drombeg is a lovely site to visit, and on a bright sunny day there are few better places to be in the world than West Cork! You’ll find the site less than 10 mins drive from Rosscarbery, off the R597 road to Glandore at co-ordinates: 51.564561, -9.086998. The site is open all year round and is free to enter.
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