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Dun Ruadh – 4000 Year Old Ring cairn
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This is an impressive ring cairn and stone circle in the heart of Tyrone.
It’s set in a beautiful location above a farmhouse in the townland of Crouk. The friendly farmer and not so friendly dog are all too happy to show the way.
The megaliths of the Sperrins also feature as my monthly blog
http://www.andymcinroy.com/0911note.htmC+C most welcome as always.
Well, you see Andy, this looks like a picture of a tree-
One of the things that the Gallaher photographs taught me was that trees are a bit like weeds-
they were remarkably absent a hundred years ago,
presumably because oil was even more expensive than it is now-To title a post ‘4000 Year Old’ then include, in geological or archaeological time, a mere twig,
as part of a pictorial composition, is perhaps not doing justice to the subject of the composition-Of course, I’m missing the point, I really don’t know what my problem with Landscape is,
hopefully somebody will be around to point it out soon-Purely photographically, seems to be some texture lost in the rocks in the foreground…
The tree is interesting indeed JB,
The question is, whether it was planted here or whether lady luck blew it here. I would say that this is a good example of a fairy tree, left here by superstition and a fear of the ‘good people’.
Of course, only the ring cairn and stone circle are 4000 years old, not the tree growing within.
Saying that, 4000 years ago, Ireland would have been covered with rich forest of alder, hazel and oak. The landscape would have been different again.Anyway, the tree is only a small part of the composition. The stone circle and ring cairn are the really ancient bits.
Andy
I had a look at your blog and I much prefer the colour version of this photo.
Mark
Cheers Mark,
That critique really helps.
Here’s the colour version if anyone else wants to compare. JB, maybe the ring and stone circle become more obvious?
Jeepers, this really looks like it’s becoming overgrown around the entrance since I was there a few years ago (2006 I think). This is actually much rarer that a ring cairn as it’s banjo shaped and had cists inserted into the outside stone ring.
It’s a tough one to photograph well, you’ve identified one of the only spots that shows nearly all the features though I do I sympathise with jb7, it’s much better in the flesh. Below are some of my efforts.
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/img_fullsize/44777.jpg
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/img_fullsize/44780.jpgAh yes Ken, I was hoping that you would comment.
I was sure that you must have been here yourself, but I couldn’t find your webpage any longer. Did you take it down?
These two you linked two are excellent and really show the standing strones very well. There can’t be many megalithics in Ireland that you haven’t visited?
Cheers for commenting.
AndySite’s still there but I’ve neglected it so much lately I didn’t notice the domain name had expired!! Back up now. I should update it I suppose with something from the last couple of years but there’s just too much weeds to cut out of it from years back that I’m half afraid to even look at :)
There’s hundreds more sites I’d love to visit still, bit difficult now with two little ones under 3 :) Been mostly working on other people’ books for the past year and neglecting my own so hoping to get back out into the wilds before long.
Great to see you’re getting your feet wet in other areas now too :) Some superb sites around Tyrone, been on my list of places to revisit for a long time.
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