Compared with the surrounding rushy fields that were hard-won from upland bog, the enclosure’s grass is a well-trimmed lawn. Gravel beds, added in the 1960s, complete the impression that Drumskinny stone circle, cairn and alignment might be an eccentric garden feature.
However, the monument is one of the plethora of megalithic structures that began to emerge across Ireland during the neolithic period (from about 6,000 years ago). After the land’s widespread deforestation, a highly organised agrarian society became established. These people built massive edifices, including the famous tomb at Newgrange in County Meath, which was the resting place of a ruling elite. A glimmer of their rituals and spirituality is still visible through the passage that snares the light of rising sun at winter solstice.
