The Three Friars

The Three Friars of County Kilkenny can be found standing high on a hill overlooking a crossroads of the same name. The area's name derives from the murder of 3 friars by Cromwell's soldiers in 1651.

The three granite stone alignment is just under 5 meters in length.
The tallest of the stones is over 1.2 meters in height.
All three stones are whitewashed not uncommon in Ireland for single or stone pair stones, but to my knowledge this is unusual for a stone alignment.   

Access  - The stones can be spotted quite easily from the main Mullinvat to New Ross road (R704). A good marker for the alignment is the wind turbine farm located close by.
Enter the field beside the holy well and a short climb brings you up to the stones.
Also in the field is a boulder burial.

Knockraheen Stone Circle

The superb site of Knockraheen boasts a circle, stone row and a radial cairn.
The main purpose of my visit was to see the stone circle.

Knockraheen is a lovely five stone circle.
This was my second visit to the site and as on my first visit the site is still in need of a clean up.

The circle has a diameter of 3.8 meters.
The low and long axial stone is over 1 meter in length and over 0.5 of a meter in height, this stone faces S/W.
The four other stones of the circle vary in height and are close to the 1 meter mark.

The two standing quartzite stones are both over the 1 meter mark.
You will pass these stones as you walk to the circle from the road.

The radial cairn was so badly overgrown on the day of my visit I did not attempt to photograph it.

Access - The road that runs beside the site is very narrow so parking is tricky, but you will be able to see the circle from the road.
This really is a great little site, and if it got a little bit of clean up it would be pretty close to perfect.  

Eightercua Stone Row

Eightercua is without doubt my favourite stone row in Ireland.
Ireland may have bigger stone rows with more standing stones in them but the buzz that I have got both times when coming around the final bend on the N70 and seeing Eightercua is like spotting four really good friends that have been waiting for you.

This was a revisit to this site as when I first saw Eightercua it was a pretty dire day weather wise.
This visit was only a partial success as the site was undergoing what looked to be a pretty extensive dig that as you can see from the images it has come right up to the stones.

The stone row is about 7.5 meters in length.
The tallest of the stones is close to 3 meters in height with the smallest of the stones just over 2 meters in height.

At the base of the stones is what looks like a wall which has led some to think that the stones were part of a large chamber.
The enclosure that comes out from the stones is very visible and is about 15 meters in diameter.

Access - Eightercua can be seen from both ways on the N70. Parking is a problem as the lane ways around the site are very narrow and most of the property's close by are lived in.
So be careful you don't block someone in.